This week, I've been completely smitten with Matt Elliott's "The Mess We Made". It was his late-2003 "comeback" album following the retirement of Third Eye Foundation a couple of years earlier. I mention this because TMWM picks up more or less where the second half of "Little Lost Soul", the final TEF album, left off (I am also impelled to express my relief that Elliott's retirement wasn't permanent, even if TEF's is). The skittering breakbeats of that album's first few tracks gave way to the sublime and stunning track "Lost", capturing a feeling of being confused and disoriented in a dimly lit environment yet unable to stop oneself from spinning in circles in the attempt to take in the surroundings with a sense of childlike wonder. These moods cover all fifty minutes of TMWM, yet compared to LLS, it is a quieter and more folky affair. It's full of simple, tinkly melodies, often stripped bare with just piano or guitar together with brooding ambience. It's the brooding qualities that keep the album folky but never twee -- the Morr Music clan only wish they pull off something like this.

The instrumentation sometimes recalls Yann Tiersen -- whose "La Dispute" was brilliantly remixed by Elliott -- which oddly enough, makes this Elliott's most romantic release to date (find me a woman who won't melt while listening to "Forty Days", and you'll have found a cold-hearted woman). The sad and swooning "The Sinking Ship Song" (with vocals attributed to "additional drunkards") carries a vaguely Yiddish melody -- a nice surprise! All told, "The Mess We Made" is another fascinating chapter in the Matt Elliott canon. No more retirement scares, please.