Skin

For his final major label release, literate folk-rocker Peter Himmelman plunges into the murky, and often fatal, endeavor of releasing a concept album. Skin revolves around a tale of a middle-aged lout whose death leads to an opportunity for a physical and spiritual rebirth. It suffers from woes of many concept albums in that the concept is a bit overly ambitious and unevenly presented. That said, there's some of Himmelman's finest work to date, both lyrically and musically, on Skin and most of the songs work outside of the context of the whole. "Disposable Child" is a haunting song of neglect driven by organ, violin and some lovely folk-tinged guitar work. "With You" is a joyous expression of finding love and "Shilo" addresses the insecurities that follow. The album closes with the stirring, self-discovery of "Been Set Free," which builds to a dramatic, gospel-inflected crescendo. The occasional heavy-handedness and meandering subplots hardly mar this impressive work.