SEATTLE STRANGER

Apparently, it takes roughly 30 minutes to break my heart. I asked for it--I can't remember the last time I've so actively anticipated a release as I have Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's third (and reportedly final) album, the semisweet morsel Twinkle Echo--and I knew what I was in for. For the uninitiated, CFTPA is the solo moniker for Owen Ashworth's sentiment-soaked, deceptively simple keyboard pop--chronicling in straightforward vignettes the middling malaise of adult mediocrity. Picking up where his previous release (the subtle masterpiece Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars) left off, Ashworth delves deeper into pocket-sized portraits of discontented twentysomethings, this time with darker shadows beginning to tinge the bittersweet narrative--the Smog on his sleeve seeping out more than ever. Though perhaps not quite as conceptually cohesive as the last effort, Twinkle Echo showcases what is easily Ashworth's most lyrically and melodically concise songwriting to date--with blow after subtle blow to the Achilles' heel of nostalgia.

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