By Russell Barker

It's a dark and bitter place that Songdog inhabit, not that you'd necessarily know from the light sounding acoustic ballads that are predominant on 'The Time Of Summer Lightning'. But delve into the lyrics and you'll find all manner of recrimination and regret for events in the past.

God has done them wrong in the lullaby style opener 'One Day When God Begs My Forgiveness' and 'Fairytale' tells of a messy relationship with a prostitute. The mid-section proves to be the high point in the form of the beautiful piano ballad that is 'Jinetera' and a great reworking of the Clash's 'Janie Jones' in which it is turned into a tender doom ballad.

There are odd overblown moments like 'Jerusalem Road' but the majority is stripped back loveliness with a black heart. The album is summed up nicely by a lyric from the title track when vocalist Lyndon sings "I was just never much good at that happiness thing".