Let's get one thing straight, first of all, Jacques offer very little that's new to the music world; the role of heartbroken troubadour has been played many times by the likes of Scott Walker and more recently, The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. Essentially, Jacques's Anthony Reynolds is The Divine Comedy on a budget. This means slightly less strings and here it's an advantage because the album's best moments are when Reynolds's tremulous voice is accompanied by the bare minimum of analogue keyboard and samples on 'This Is What You Do' and 'It'll Never Happen Again'. Even on the string-embellished tracks the vocals never sound forced and overwrought and the cover of Abba's 'The Day Before You Came' is respectful and just the right side of camp. All in all it's a job well done despite the lack of ambition.