The indie songwriter who was allegedly trying to get out during Mark Owen's time in Take That is given full reign here, to mixed effect. There is no disputing that his heart lies with acoustically-inclined, spiritual seekers such as Rufus Wainwright and Tom McRae, or that his boyband years gave him a headful of experiences to process into songs. And he certainly sounds the part, his singing style resonant and vulnerable.

But what, apart from eagerness and deliberately calcified hair, can he offer to this oversubscribed genre? You can't help feeling that the abrasive guitar and subject matter ("self-destructive addiction" - oh, please) of Kill with Your Smile are just attempts to be big and bad. Ditto the soaring, Jeff Buckley-inspired Head in the Clouds, which skirts around the hideously complex issue of the love of abused spouses for their abusers.

Thank heavens Gary Barlow was around to co-write two proper pop songs in Turn the Light On and If You Weren't Leaving Me. Owen falls into these with a swoon of relief, as does the listener.