illiam Hut, known simply by his forename while belting out otherworldly vocals for the Poor Rich Ones, took a break after the recording and US tour supporting PRO’s first stateside release, and third album total, Happy Happy Happy, (yeah, the title conjures up images of Ren and Stimpy for me too) which was a tear inducing, emothereal tribute to the bands that PRO often found itself compared to (Travis, Coldplay, Bends-Radiohead.)


Road Star Doolittle finds William departing from the high-flown arrangements of PRO for a largely solo acoustic/piano offering of more despondent takes on love/loss. Your tolerance for the, not entirely original, brand of singer/songwriter melancholic pop of Hut is likely based upon your response to lines such as “I’m not wrapped in mystery / I’m just sad” which happens to be the make or break line for other critics- one going so far as to call Hut a disingenuous, watered down Bright Eyes. This critic, however, finds it a bit more useful to posit Hut as a sort of Scandinavian male Lisa Germano. Lacking Germano’s mordant (and macabre) wit, Hut travels the same littered path of misery and non-fulfillment. Hut himself is an obvious fan of Germano’s work, paying homage through his covers of “Wood Floors,” (on this release) the stand-out piano ballad off Germano’s Slide, and “It’s a Rainbow” (on a rare soundtrack to a Norwegian film entitled Besteborgere). The former track is played as if by rote- note for note, with an acoustic guitar replacing the piano. Hut’s voice is pure marmalade, hitting the high notes with unabashed feminine grace- making for a haunting, monastic tribute.


Now, I’ve had Road Star Doolittle on mp3 since way back in 2001- around the same time I was introduced to the Poor Rich Ones- and the opener, “Starlet” still amazes me. The simple acoustic song of yearning builds into heavy tom drumming and features one of Hut’s most beautiful vocals. Holding back the falsetto, Hut sings pitch-perfect and effortlessly- “You’ve been my guide for so long / I’ve built my dreams around you.” Breaking from the pattern, humming synths pop up on “The Great Gospel,” along with flittering strings, horns, and echoing choir-like backup vocals. Hut’s vocals are really what makes the music on Road Star Doolittle unique- sure, the weepy strings on “Belonging” are beautiful, same with the 12 string acoustic playing on “A Better View,” but without Hut’s laconically dejected Scandinavian-tinged crooning, it’s...OK, even with Hut’s evanescent voice it’s not even that original, but what it is, is cherubic pop that can hardly be called insincere.


At a time rife with homicide bombings, broken cease fires, elevated threat levels and major city-wide black outs, one needs a frequent stress moratorium. Yeah, you know where this is going- Road Star Doolittle does just that, right? Right.