Psyche

Seven years after USJ, Char returned with a solo album released on his own Edoya label. Psyche has an unhurried feel, but it also gives his melodic instinct a clearer place in the foreground. “Somewhere Out There” has the ease of early morning light. The soft guitar cutting on “Lovers Walk” is the kind of medium-tempo detail Pink Cloud would never have made in quite this way.

“All Around Me,” one of several songs here that revisit Char's own earlier work, is even more disarming. Its acoustic simplicity has a coolness all its own. There is no need for a big gesture when the arrangements can make this much space for a tune.