Gough starts by ''remember[ing] when I saw your face/ shining my way'' (''The Shining''), wears down the object of his affection in ''Everybodys Stalking,'' clears his head by ''Camping Next to Water,'' and, by the penultimate song, ''Say It Again,'' is grousing ''You squeeze the life right out of me.'' He's elated, hopeful, snappish, obsessed, overbearing -- and yearning for so much rescue and salvation that it's easy to see why his lover is no longer around.
Gough weds his emotional mood swings to musical ones, leaping from bittersweet orchestration and frazzled power pop to Bacharachian harmonies, weightless folk jazz, and a funereal marching band. Stitched between the songs are brief instrumentals and throwaways, as if he were still forming his thoughts before he articulates himself in the next song. ''The Hour of Bewilderbeast'' feels as confidential as a love letter or e-mail yet is still universal -- an intimate hour that's far from bewildering.
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