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Lawrence Arabia, The Sparrow (Bella Union)

There is so much to like about The Sparrow that it feels churlish to say I don't love it.

The New Zealand singer-songwriter's third album has a rich, woozy musicality and Arabia (aka James Milne) has a voice that's all sweet flexibility. But something lets it down. That something tends to be the lyrics. They have none of the punch of great pop lyrics and though they strive to be clever, they're never quite clever enough. The Bixsexual is a case in point. It's a story about Arabia being angry with another man who he thinks is trying to steal his girlfriend, only to realise that it's not the girlfriend his rival is interested in. It's a neat conceit but the lyric doesn't really manage to do much with the set-up. It's a story without a punchline.

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