Lou Barlow is a bit of an oddity. For one he has rather an unfortunate name. It’s hard not to picture him as Ken Barlow and let’s face it no one wants to be pictured as Ken Barlow. For all of you not in the loop, Lou Barlow isn’t a character in Coronation Street, he’s actually one of the founding members of the legendary Dinosaur Jnr and this is his second solo LP.

Goodnight Unknown is exactly what you would expect from folk-loving Barlow – soft, pretty and lyrically dreamy. First single, Sharing, feels exceptionally like a Snow Patrol song in which Barlow sounds startlingly similar to Gary Lightbody. Not that this is a bad thing, this single is fast-paced, exciting, angst driven pop and just the beginning of what is, overall, a very sound album.

Easily the strongest song on the album is Gravitate. Funk-fuelled folk, this song is bass heavy and spectacular with the makings of one of this year’s best songs. One Note Tone is a ‘one man and his guitar’ type affair and all the better for it. Both musically and lyrically clever this song is a strong way to end Barlow’s album.

The album does get a bit too soppy at times in tracks like Take Advantage with lyrics along the lines of “take apart a rainbow / feed it to the sunrise / wake me with your elbow and I’ll know / you love me like a pancake”. The same goes for The One I Call – all a bit lovey-dovey and sure to only be appreciated by nauseating couples on their honeymoon.

Goodnight Unknown continuously switches from dreamy love songs to cynical antidotes. It’s very confusing to the mind. To be fair this is a very good album – each song is good and nobody could deny that – it just isn’t very exciting, lacking some much needed spice. It’s ideal for some background ambiance but when it comes to picking an album or song you’re dying to hear on your iPod it’s not likely to be from this album.