(Ronboy/Warner Music)

Despite the title, Sexsmith sounds like he intends to hang around

Canadian crooner Ron Sexsmith has a career out of his wounded-but-ever-hopeful troubadour style, bruised by love and life yet still searching. But when he came across Swedish producer Martin Terefe about six years ago, his albums gained a more polished pop veneer, courtesy of lusher but still relatively low-key arrangements. After trying a different tack on his last effort, this tenth album sees Terefe return for his third time, adding even more cosmopolitan touches like Cuban horns actually recorded in Havana. But again, it’s Sexsmith’s plaintive persona that guides these songs of doubt and disappointment, the essence of which is captured in maudlin titles like Poor Helpless Dreams, The Impossible World and Traveling Alone. A more optimistic air comes in tracks like Brighter Still, Music To My Ears and the soulful, gospel-like This Is How I Know but, ever mild-mannered and self-effacing, Sexsmith refrains from getting carried away because anxiety is just around the corner. But it’s that combination of Sexsmith’s clouded concern and Terefe’s warmer backdrops that makes this album such a bittersweet pleasure.    

*** ½

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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