I'M Not Following You

It would be fair to say that the unexpected success of 1995's "A Girl Like You" left Edwyn Collins, former singer known for little but an influential early-'80s Scottish group called Orange Juice, in a creative conundrum. After all, it had been over a decade since anyone even heard his name uttered in public. He could either head back to cultdom with his more experimental output or attempt to capitalize on the triumph of the big hit. It was an easy decision. For better or worse, on his second American release as a solo artist, I'm Not Following You, the songwriter tries to fit the smoky, lounge-style vocals, casual soul rhythms and gently strummed pop guitars of "A Girl Like You" into a variety of new formats. On "The Magic Piper," Collins gives the formula a mystical spin, lacing it with flutes and synth effects; with "Downer," he turns melancholy, spiking the song with grinding guitars and morose verses; and for dramatic variation there is "Seventies Night," replete with wah-wah guitars, slinky rhythms and a gruff vocal contribution from The Fall frontman Mark E. Smith. Hearing Collins' deviations on a solitary idea is an interesting if not always substantial listening experience, a fact the songwriter himself begrudgingly acknowledges with the album's opening lines, "The first two chords that I chanced upon/Became the bedrock of this song. --Aidin Vaziri