Domestic Departures

Listening to the second album by Australian singer/songwriter Bernie Hayes, here heading a quartet bearing his name, it's often hard to shake the feeling that you're hearing an Elvis Costello who's toned down his act enough to play tea rooms. It's not actually disconcerting because Hayes, who does resemble Costello quite a bit vocally, does have a nice, sweet voice, as well as reasonable, if not killer, melodicism. There's electric guitar in the arrangements that was not present on his debut, the leader offering fair material usually hewing to the uncertainties and bittersweet ups-and-downs of adult love. What it doesn't have is nearly as much of the sense of risk, unpredictability, and oomph that put the best material by Elvis Costello — sorry, the reference point really does seem unavoidable — over to an international audience. As confessional singer/songwriting goes, though, it's not bad, with a deft mild eclecticism that takes in occasional Latin-like rhythms, easy-listening horns, and loungey tunes, less occasionally rocking out to a slight degree.