Album: David Poe, ****

The Late Album, Ulftone

As often as not, it takes a small Dutch or German label such as Munich or Glitterhouse to recognise a decent Americana talent such as Rainer or East River Pipe. So, too, with David Poe, picked up by Ulftone after Sony struggled to sell his 1997 debut album. It's Sony's loss: The Late Album is a classy piece of work, a nu-country-rock milestone to set alongside modern classics such as Wilco's Being There and Sound of Lies by The Jayhawks (whom Poe, appropriately enough, is currently accompanying on tour here). Virtually everything about it is just right, from the gorgeous Crosby, Stills & Nash-style harmonies of "The Drifter", and the lovely Beatley/ Byrdsy jangle of "Echo Box" and "Good Lonely", to the poignant collusion of cello and mandolin on the melancholy "Love Won't Last the Afternoon", and the exquisite cabaret horns and strings caressing the explosive love metaphors of "You're the Bomb". Poe has the songwriting smarts to match the tasteful arrangements, too, developing odd premises, setting up piquant contrasts, and taking sharp lyrical left-turns that keep the listener constantly on their toes. Take the title-track, for example, a haunted piano ballad whose protagonist is either waking from a coma or trying vainly to convince himself that he's over her: "It's a shame you're not around, now I'm not dead anymore." A Great American Talent, whether America realises it or not.