THE onetime lyricist with Squeeze breaks out on his own with his solo debut.

In his Squeeze days, Difford was always the one who, well, couldn't exactly sing, yet he finds his voice here in a series of charming and lush songs.

But charming and lush can muffle the ear and after a while the songs run into each other, resulting in a tastefully parked musical traffic jam. The first four songs are lovely - Tight Rope, For A Change, the eccentrically-titled Cowboys Are My Weakness and No Show Jones - while A World That Passed Me By benefits from a change of tempo and mood, and boasts a guitar break that momentarily shakes off the reflective slumber. One Day tends to sludge, while Playing With Electric Trains offers a country-style spin of a song first heard on the late-era Squeeze album, Ridiculous.

Updated: 09:35 Thursday, March 06, 2003