The former Icicle Works frontman is feted as a genius in some quarters and an underachieving Scouser in others; everywhere else, he is simply ignored. He even made an unexpected return to the top 40 recently, with the chirpy Let the Young Girl Do What She Wants To, without any national batting of eyelids. Before All of This attempts to show everybody what we're missing and, at 14 songs, that seems to be quite a lot.

The album's first, acoustic half consists of perfectly sung, slightly dark ballads that are big on poignancy and insight, with one taking a shot at modern-day colonialism. In the second half, not quite as profitably, McNabb straps on his electric: he goes a bit Scouse Tony Christie in places, and nods to Neil Young just as raucously as Oasis.

By attempting to try to be all things to all people, McNabb runs the risk of being a jack of all songwriting trades, master of none. However, he is quietly carving out a career that has lasted more than two decades by being better at many types of songwriting than most.