Take a Bow

On *Take a Bow*, Greg Laswell shifts through the ashes of a burned-out love affair with a cool, steady hand. That’s not to say that the singer/songwriter doesn’t make his heartache plain; these songs are unsparing in their analysis of romantic breakdown. But Laswell rises above his melancholy thanks to the album’s atmospheric arrangements, embroidering simple folk/pop melodies with biting electric guitars and ambient keyboards. Tunes like “Come Clean” and the title song have an almost classical grace to them, while “Around the Bend” features the dramatic rock flourishes of a vintage Pink Floyd track. Laswell’s subdued delivery plays against the emotional sting embedded in his words — in “My Fight (For You),” he tosses off lines like “take my heart and drag it through your life” with acceptance rather than anger in his voice. “You, Now” captures the heady rush of new desire, setting the listener up for the brooding resolution of the final track “Goodbye.” More than an act of confession, *Take a Bow* is a shrewd, affecting elegy for broken dreams.