Do pop music lives have second acts? Colin Hay's does, or deserves to. He was a multiplatinum star with Men at Work early in the '80s; now he's back with a band of his own and -- why pretend I'm not seduced? -- a mesmerizing sound that owes as much to his Scottish roots as it does to rock or pop.
His voice is raspier than the instrumental mix, which helps him in a song called ''Dream On,'' about itchy sex. You can almost see the woman he's singing about; you know he's been scratching at her stockings. ''You've got a ladder in your fishnet,'' he sings. ''And it's because of me.''
But then songs about stormy hearts -- or traveling guys who drink and fight a lot -- sound just as real. The fiddle dances and wails; there's a distinctive throb in the bass. Let the guy, as he sings, pour you a Stolichnaya. A few songs turn blank, but believe me, the glow from the good ones is going to stay with you.
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