Sycamore Meadows (2008)

Poor Butch Walker. In the past few years, the former Marvelous 3 frontman's production and songwriting efforts for superstars like Pink and Fall Out Boy have garnered scads more attention than his own good-to-great solo work. Factor in his house burning down last fall, and you totally understand why he sounds a little glum on a good deal of this ballad-heavy album. But despite lyrics like ''I'm not happy with myself these days,'' this actually doesn't come off like the soundtrack to some mythical Debbie Downer flick. In fact, Sycamore Meadows is ultimately pretty uplifting, exuding a laid-back, Tom Pettyish tunefulness. B+

Download This: Listen to songs from the new album on the artist's MySpace

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