The inevitable "unplugged" album from an aging pop band. A modern-acoustic country/folk air dominates these songs, but there's plenty of electric guitar and even synths for moodiness. Pretty pop melodies, with a female vocal (her name's Carol, not Bettie). Decent, catchy stuff.

Now, maybe this gets too specific, but I do have a complaint about the songwriting. Often a promising opening mood gets watered down when the chorus or middle arrives and turns out to be a major-chord cop-out -- not bad, just *plain*. The band teases with a bag of compositional tricks and doesn't seem to use them to full potential.

That might be a common complaint (I'm unfamiliar with the Bettie Serveert catalogue but have heard lots of mixed reviews of them). Even if it's valid, it's not enough to keep this one on the shelf; it's nice stuff.

1- Mid/fast but soft, an easy opener.
2- Solid gentle beat, catchy. #11 is a better version.
3- Bright, spare upbeat. Nice 6/8 feel.
4- Airy strumming, heavenly synth. Mid/fast.
5- Autumnal
6- Drifting mid/fast, with heavily wah'ed guitar
7- Country/folk midtempo
8- Minor key, wistful longing
9- Exotic and slowly jumpy. Really cool, and atypical
10- Slower, "down" feel. Late night bar depression.
11- Upbeat and airy, the feel of an open road. Improved version of #2.
12- Heavy midtempo, thick sad electric guitar