Imagine if Randy Newman and a klezmer band were blending seamlessly with a soulful lounge act. It’s kinda like that. Smooth, smoky loungey, muted trumpets and piano and sax, theatrical, takes its time . . . picture people nodding over cocktails in a dark club, but it’s just disjointed and playful enough in moments (with clarinets, etc) that you suspect they might be joking. Loungy impassioned male vocals (he’s got a nice voice). Lyrics are poetic and quirky. Tracks 6 and 9 are subtly political.

*1. *(5:44) midtempo, slinky and dark, about living as a kid in a sleazy motel
2. (5:54) drunken lusty sway, rolling bongos, hushed vocals about luuuv
3. (6:41) upbeat, fade in amongst crowd noise; lotsa clarinet, half-spoken lyrics, tinny backup singers, strange and uneasy
*4. *(5:29) sloow, impassioned, dramatic, torch song-y,
*5. *(4:38) quietly upbeat, trumpet and clarinet soloing
6. (5:09) laidback wistful, (this one’s pretty Randy Newmanesque), lyrics about . . . misplaced patriotism?
*7. *(4:10) more crowd noise; tinny recording sound, slow teasing vocals, odd percussion. Retro with a twist.
*8. *(5:11) midtempo warm and expansive, under a starlit sky
9. (4:38) slow jazzy ballad (very randy newman sound), muted trumpet, clarinet; lyrics from a war widow
10. (5:24) waltzy, wistful; jazzy clarinet and muted trumpet; “I-miss-you” lyrics
*11. *(5:34) sultry come-hither prowl, quiet 6/8 with tense vibrating perc.
12. (7:19) warm, laidback groove, quiet. Builds toward end; enter chorus.