There's something about Sweeney from Oz that I both look forward to and dread with every new release of his I get from SIS. On the one hand, I know that it's going to be engaging music. On the other, I know it's going to be really sad. Sweeney's last album I reviewed, 'Misery Peaks' (2021) was plenty bleak, but I was warned in the title. Now with Sweeney's 4th release, 'Stay for the Sorrow,' I thought I'd be fairly well prepared for what I was about to listen to. Guess I was wrong.

No, it's not a happy parade with a misleading title, but rather a deeper dive into Sweeney than I was expecting. Love, loss, sorrow, and redemption all figure prominently in this 38 minute album of 10 tracks, none over 4 1/2 minutes. I know that I've commented on this before but Jason Sweeney's vocals are remarkably similar to David Sylvian's at times, but now I'm hearing a different aspect in Sweeney's voice, a fragility that I may have overlooked before. It's this vulnerable aspect that makes Sweeney's songs so personal and moving. Sometimes Sweeney is in straight-ahead song mode, like the opener- "Lonely Faces," is mainly just Sweeney and his piano. The follow-up, "The Break Up" has a more abstract electronic backing but is still rich with melody, and the eventual orchestration that takes over works wonders. In fact, this album seems more orchestrated than the last. Case in point- Melinda Pianoroom's saxophone lends a lot the atmosphere on "Home Song." Delicate semi-abstract songs like "Fallen Trees Where Houses Meet" and "You Will Move On" are hard to describe, but if you imagined an Eno/Sylvian collaboration, it would sound closer to the truth.

By the album's mid-point ("Years") you might find yourself in a very introspective mood, wondering about your own relationships; past, present and future. It's an easy groove to fall into listening to Sweeney, especially if you're feeling a little broken. The thing is, Jason isn't going to help you shake the blues with upbeat pop songs. He will however, give you a great, great song with "Anxiety," perhaps the best on the album. I wasn't as sold on the title track, which seemed a bit on the nose for me. The really abstract "To Be Done" is brief but just so Sweeney, and the closer- "I Will Be Replaced" could be the unplanned theme of the gig worker, but still has universal appeal for those feeling a bit worthless, and Melinda's sax at the end perpetuates the sorrow. Yes, Sweeney has delivered another album full of melancholia, but this is just a hair short of a masterpiece. Limited edition of 200 in the usual SIS handmade packaging.