SINGER SONGWRITER

This fifth album from Mancunian troubadour Badly Drawn Boy was, by Damon Gough’s own admission, his hardest to make. And, well, you can tell, because it simply isn’t any good. Having moved from indie label to major, Gough seems intent on aiming at the mainstream with the result that, as the arrangements get bigger, the choruses blander, all Gough’s uniquely quirky style and touching melancholy is washed away. With the exception of the pleasantly anthemic single ‘Nothing’s Gonna Change Your Mind’ this is disheartening BDB by numbers, Gough sounding like a pale shadow of his former creative self.