Using a variety of guises, Anthony Reynolds has skirted the fringes of brooding pop music since 1996. In the early Jack phase there was an air of Tindersticks but with a rockier element added, Jacques saw him in reflective Scott Walker mode and in between there was a collaboration with bedsit electro-pop guru Momus. It is the latter's influence which is most closely recalled at the beginning to Neu York; 'I Love My Radio (On)' bears all the hallmarks of Nicholas Currie's low budget yet tuneful, literate style. It's no fluke either, Reynolds' sensual rich vocals seem well suited to the moody almost danceable likes of 'Lush Life', 'The Sad Streets' and 'My Machiaveliian Girl'. But after this bright beginning Reynolds loses momentum a little. A tribute to South Bank Show mainstay Melvyn Bragg is touching but need only be heard once, 'If July Were A Kingdom' is overwrought and the surfeit of spoken word interludes interrupts any possible flow as the album edges to a close with only '2000 Miles' offering a reprieve; a moment of tender clarity in a world gone mad. Still, for all those mad moments, it's nice to have him back.