The Belfast poet (now relocated to Melbourne) stretches his customary, literate folk-pop between full-on rock and drifting acoustic balladry with a deeply personal set of ‘breakup’ songs. There’s a Velvet Underground insouciance to the crunching, electric opener ‘Driftin’’ while the wry, acoustic waltz of ‘Separation Street’ is pure Waterboys. The Finn Brothers/Split Enz influence, stirred in with essence of Beatles and ELO, is never far from the surface, particularly on the irresistible ‘Jessica Says’ and there’s even a delve back into Searchers-style, 60s pop for the ukulele-led ‘You Got Me At Hello’. White’s never been the world’s greatest singer, but the engaging quality of the material more than compensates on an 11th studio album packed with smart, melodic vignettes of grown-up joy and pain.

Steve Bennett, February 2014