Lowe’s first disc in almost six years sidles forth with an easy-going aura, belying the artistry within.

Accompanied by a bunch of old reliables including drummer Bobby Irwin and keyboards player Geraint Watkins, Lowe has transported himself to Memphis and Nashville (albeit metaphorically, since the disc was cut in London) to create a set of songs reminiscent of such dignitaries as Al Green, Joe South, Glen Campbell and possibly even Dean Martin.

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But the author’s idiosyncratic voice is unmistakeable in a song like “I Trained Her To Love Me” – a blackly comic portrait of a man taking his elaborate revenge on women.

ADAM SWEETING