David Kitt - 'Not Fade Away' (Rough Trade) Released 30/10/06

Nothing if not prolific, 'Not Fade Away' is Dublin-based singer songwriter David Kitt's fifth album in six years – a tremendous output, especially considering that, instead of churning out identikit record after identikit record he's a consistently experimental anddiverse performer.

Perhaps this has hampered his career more than helped it – his previous albums have embraced electronica, folk, country and pop – while compatriots like Rice and the ubiquitous David Grey have had more lucrative careers ploughing much more traditional furrows. 'Not Fade Away' goes a long way to counteract this, it's certainly the most complete selection of songs he's released so far, but there's still an overall feeling that if he'd just decide what he wanted to do with himself, he could probably do a lot better.

Standout track 'Up To You' has that quintessentially Irish echoing guitar line, a lovingly sculpted little pop gem that borrows from, but never apes U2's wide eyed skyscapes and Damien Rice's growling intimacy. Similarly, first single 'Say No More' is a straight-down-the-line pop song, two and a half minutes of choruses, a snappy guitar solo and a few violins in the background, which could easily be a track off James Dean Bradfield's recent album.

The chugging, slightly erroneous rocker 'I Know The Reason' sits uneasily alongside slow-burning 'Nothing Else,' a lovely synth-based love song that immediately brings to mind a grizzled 'Up' era REM – no bad thing, and Kitt would do worse than continue this divergence. Kitt lobbing a few tricks into the mix is no bad thing, a couple of Kraftwerk synths on languid opener 'One Clear Way' embellish an otherwise ordinary number, however, it's when Kitt starts really experimenting that things begin to unravel. 'Don't **** With Me' is a bizarre funk number, which throws you completely off kilter, and it's either a fantastic piece of listener-manipulation or the aural equivalent of your dad dancing to 50 Cent at a wedding.

It's a little odd, especially as much of this album is excellent
acoustic work, like the simple, countrified chant of 'Guilty Prayers, Pointless Ends,' or the beguiling Gram Parsons-lite of 'Grey Day.' Kitt is certainly one to watch, but he should stick to what he's good at. Then we'd all hear a lot more of him.