(Bella Union)

www.bellaunion.com

Like fellow ex-Brunettes Ryan McPhun, James Milne is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and neo-psychedelic one-man band. Milne's Lawrence Arabia joins McPhun's Ruby Suns - reviewed here at BLURT, incidentally - in dabbling in trendy Afropop, but Milne has gleaned more of his style from late-60s acid-pop. On Arabia's second album, Chant Darling, Milne sings lead like Ray Davies ("Like a Fool") and John Lennon ("The Undesirables"), and constructs multi-tracked chorales that evoke both Abbey Road and Pet Sounds.

This are familiar influences, of course, and Arabia updates them in much the same way as the Suns (and many other current psychedelicists): by making them vaguer. Most of these 10 songs meander, sometimes beyond the five-minute mark, and Arabia rarely varies the drowsy midtempo beat. A livelier rhythm and a hooky refrain -- and a vaguely Afropop guitar style -- lifts "Apple Pie Bed" above the rest of the pack.

The album's lyrics are often submerged, which is probably for the best; the audible ones aren't all that interesting. Like so many of his contemporaries, Milne seems most interested in texture and mood. He's good at both, but that's not going to distinguish Lawrence Arabia from many similar-sounding operations. Chant Darling was recorded while Milne was relocating to London, a tougher town than Auckland, so maybe his third album will have a little more bite.

Standout Tracks: "Apple Pie Bed," "Like a Fool" MARK JENKINS