Not many artists can take the listener from a place of desperation to one of hope in the space of three-and-a-half minutes. Pete Murray can. Witness “Better Days”: a sombre, earthy, acoustic song made more mournful by its weeping cello and the opening lines, “I saw it coming, I saw emptiness and tragedy”. Come the end of the song and “all of these hard times have faded ’round the bend/Now that I’m wiser I cannot wait ’til I can help my friends”. Opener “Opportunity” courses with similar optimism as Murray sings of making the most of your life and doing what makes you happy, while even the sparse “Lost Soul” resolves with the lines, “Stop hiding behind the door like everyone else/Just get out and do your best”. A more musically dynamic album than Murray’s 2003 breakthrough Feeler, the buoyant horns of “George’s Helper” feature longtime Midnight Oil trumpeter Jack Howard, while the bluesy, electrified riff of “Class A” adds some muscle to proceedings, elevating the singer-songwriter beyond the Jack Johnson comparisons that followed the release of Feeler.