BEN FOLDS/NICK HORNBY

Lonely Avenue

[Nonesuch]

Fittingly, Lonely Avenue, a joint project from singer-songwriter Ben Folds and British novelist Nick Hornby, is bookended by modern-day artist’s laments. In the first, “A Working Day,” a writer battles expectations and internet criticism; in the last, “Belinda,” a musician relives the pain of a lost love affair again and again via his only hit. Here and elsewhere, Hornby’s lyrics paint darkly comic character sketches, but his acerbic wit is tempered by Folds’ playful melodies, which often draw on late-’70s rock. And when the subject matter turns tragic, as on “Picture Window,” Folds’ cinematic score and Paul Buckmaster’s weeping strings make an already evocative poem transcendent. The individual work of Folds and Hornby has always been remarkably self-assured, but this kind of close collaboration often requires a more flexible vision. Both the spirit and the content of Lonely Avenue offer a fascinating portrait of artists caught in the act of being vulnerable. –Katie Dodd

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