Having ended his long relationship with Mercury Records, Cray has found a new home at Sanctuary, and sounds all the better for it.

His most recent releases have recalled the sound of a man running round in circles, but here he seems looser and more inclined to take risks. He has also given his band more rope - especially keyboard player Jim Pugh, who figures prominently as co-producer and songwriter.

Indeed, Pugh's Up in the Sky and Distant Shore are among the strongest tracks here, the former featuring a crafty strings- and-sitar arrangement, the latter running riot with funky keyboards, an urgent Latino beat and a strident anti-war message.

Throughout, the tracks benefit hugely from uncluttered arrangements that leave space for carefully chosen sounds, whether it's the strikingly off-kilter Hammond organ in Spare Some Love? or Cray's mysterious guitar figure in Survivor. The closer, Time Makes Two, uses muted strings and a hushed rhythm section to frame Cray's regretful vocal and a forlorn guitar solo.

A great improvement.