Album: David Vandervelde

The Moonstation House Band, SECRETLY CANADIAN

Pop Levi could do worse than lend an ear to this debut album by a young multi-instrumentalist from Chicago whose work draws on some of the same influences - most notably Marc Bolan - but avoids the pitfalls into which Levi tumbles. It's something to do with the panache of tracks like "Can't See Your Face No More", where the blend of acoustic guitar and bongoes captures the point at which Tyrannosaurus Rex evolved into T. Rex, Vandervelde railing against a girl who dumped him for God: "Now you call up about Jesus/ Dressing so lovely to please us/ How about you pray to heaven to take my mind off of you?" There's a similar tone elsewhere, the singer piqued in "Jacket" by a friend's ethical shortcomings. But, however disillusioned he may be, Vandervelde's arrangements buoy the tracks sufficiently, with David Campbell's orchestrations lending a psychedelic air to some tracks, notably the closing "Moonlight Instrumental", a melancholy electric piano piece swathed in strings and woodwind.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Can't See Your Face No More', 'Feet of a Liar', 'Jacket'