Tangentially minded local singer-songwriter Brent Adair follows up 2004's Pieces with a homespun album of faraway themes. Streaming reflective, bare-bones folk-pop alongside lyrics that prefer the scenic route, Ostrich may be an acquired taste, but it's one of iconoclastic distinction. Adair and handyman producer Billy Harvey set the mood right up front with "Time Away," a wit-soaked spin on the old-fashioned sabbatical. Insomniacs everywhere will relate to "If I Could Sleep," a mundane laundry list of creature comforts that comes up painfully short in comparison to an elusive good night's shut-eye. "Untied" is an unflinchingly melancholic portrait of a relationship in disintegration mode, while "Inside Me" marvels in joy and befuddlement at how love can rearrange your insides. After all that, closing instrumental "White Fingers" adds a slightly elegiac Gary Numan synth bed to Death Cab contemplation. If there's ever a sequel to Garden State, this might be a good place to start the soundtrack.

Greg Beets
The Austin Chronicle