Transnormal Skiperoo (2008)

White's debut, Wrong-Eyed Jesus!, explored the convergence of religion, drugs, and despair — terrain all too familiar to this troubadour. On Transnormal Skiperoo, his fourth album, produced by Joe Pernice and featuring folk-gospel outfit Ollabelle, White shares similarly enthralling tales of troubled characters but infuses them with a newfound levity. Songs like ''A Town Called Amen'' unspool dreamily, punctuated by such hopeful lyrics as ''Seems like the more you lose/The more you wait to find.'' Perhaps White and his friends may find salvation after all. A-
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