It seems that the world is still waking up slowly to Jimmy Gnecco. Too slowly for my liking. His last album, with his band Ours, was recorded with Rick Rubin on the American label and as magical as Mr Rubin's touch usually is his fairy dust failed to work on Ours and the band and label parted company. 'Mercy: Dancing For The Death Of An Imaginary Enemy' was Ours' strongest album to date - sublime in my opinion and I've been waiting for new material ever since. Sure it's only been two years but I'm insatiable. As soon as I heard 'Mercy' I was thirsty for more.

And now we have more. It's also more of a departure. The cover shows Jimmy Gnecco - the illustrated man - stripped to the waist just him and his tattoos. And the album is much the same - stripped to the bare white bones of voice and acoustic guitar. At least that was the original plan but other instrumentation gradually appeared during the recording sessions. All of which was played by Gnecco himself whose deft hand maintains the spacious and sparse feel of the album.

Opener 'Rest Your Soul' is just that though - acoustic guitar and voice. And what a voice and what a range. Jimmy is known for using the full capabilities of his voice to flow seamlessly from deep lows to falsetto highs - pure liquid gold.

'Light On The Grave' for one should delight fans more familiar with Jeff Buckley and the 'Lilac Wine' side of his repertoire. I could throw in another comparison of Perry Blake but I fear his name will be even more obscure than Jimmy Gnecco's currently is.

'Mystery' is the first track to bring in any substantial additional instrumentation in the form of piano, drums and layered vocals. The drums in particular bring out the 3/4 swing introduced by the guitar. It's also the first track that fully illustrates the extent of Jimmy's vocal range.

Title track 'The Heart' stars off acapella with handclaps before launching into an urgent vocal delivery pushed along by a single heart-pounding drum. It's easy to imagine this track adapted with a full band arrangement making the transition to being played live and loud. Even in this arrangement there's something of the 'Tarantula' about it - an all-consuming tribal dance of transcendence that bleeds the poison from your veins.

The first track that I heard from this album was 'Bring You Home' and I was a little alarmed. Since this track had been singled out as the lead track - to which a video was made - I was left thinking: "is this downbeat track in fact the high point of the album?" As it turns out my initial fears turned out to be unfounded and a gross underestimation on my part. This is an excellent track which has really grown on me. It turns out to be so much more than what I first heard.

So what else is there? Well there's a lot. You just have to dig for it. For an essentially acoustic album devoid of riffs it gives up its treasures gradually. The album's a grower for me. First listen you may only pick out one or two tracks from this understated album. And then, the next time you listen, there are suddenly four standout tracks and you're thinking: "where did those spring from?". Emerging tracks for me - which I didn't 'hear' the first time around include 'Heard You Singing' with its faint Zeppelin undertones, the gothic 'Patiently Waiting' and the delicately amazing 'Darling'.

'The Heart' can come as quite a shock to any Ours fan and fans of their last album in particular. This album is very much a downtempo affair with all aggression - both vocal and distorted guitar - left at the door. That said if you're an Ours fan you're also helplessly drawn to Jimmy's incredible voice and this album delivers just that in all its stark glory. Jimmy, no stranger to solo acoustic shows, has accumulated these songs over time - songs that don't fit into the Ours mould. From what I've read Gnecco isn't short on material - he's backlogged in fact. And this is good news for us all. Whether it's another solo album or one with his band Ours - I'll be eagerly awaiting what comes next.

http://www.jimmygnecco.com/

http://www.myspace.com/jimmygneccosolo