The recent reissue of the early Babybird albums as 'The Original Lo-Fi' boxed set confirmed what an extraordinarily brilliant and prolific songwriter the man called Stephen Jones has been. After three slightly more commercial efforts (if songs about mass murderers and pornography can be called that), Jones now returns to his roots and abandons the Babybird moniker once and for all with his latest album. Disappointingly 'Almost Cured Of Sadness' is not a return to form. Granted it features old tricks such as those creepy lullaby-type melodies and a very lo-fi production but the endearing quality of the songs is notable by its absence. The situation is not helped by Jones' insistence on singing virtually every track in a crazed falsetto; the rich powerful instrument of previous offerings now discarded too. This is initially acceptable but after an hour's worth of music it soon becomes irritating. Amongst an array of toytown melodies there are a few gems such as 'Cured Of Sadness' and 'Radio's Been Thinking Again' both of which work the queasy, insidious magic of old. 'Quaaludes' benefits from a more simplistic arrangement. Much of the rest smacks of immaturity for a man of his talents as a mish-mash of scratching, dated hip-hop beats and uninspired sampling fails to offer anything new, or indeed, anything on a par with previous material.