If there's one thing you can always count on Hawksley Workman to do, it's the thing that you never counted on him to do.

Which is to say: After the sexed-up, hammy glam-pop of his last couple of discs, you would not expect Workman to dish up a set of introspective and unironically beautiful piano balladry.

So that's precisely what the iconoclastic singer-songwriter cooks up for his fifth full-length Treeful of Starling. Wiping away the mascara and discarding his sequined hot pants, Workman settles down and gets back to basics with nine delicate and poetic odes that ponder the passage of time, the meaning of life and the fleeting nature of love instead of being jealous of your cigarette.

As usual, aside from the occasional horn line or string part, Hawksley does all the heavy lifting here, playing all the instruments and producing himself. But as always, the most impressive achievement is Workman's superior songcraft, which has never sounded more mature or honest. Is he growing up? Getting over a breakup? Only he knows what prompted him to change his tune.

But as he puts it: "The one certainty of living is that you're gonna die, so why not stand in awe of it instead of asking why?"

We would suggest approaching Treeful of Starling the same way.

Track Listing:

1. A Moth Is Not A Butterfly
2. Hey Hey Hey (My Little Beauties)
3. You Are Too Beautiful
4. You And The Candles
5. Rain
6. When These Mountains Were
7. It's A Long Life To Always Be Longing
8. Goodbye To Radio
9. Ice Age