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"Say a prayer for me . . . I think I'm worse off than I thought I was," sings Bill Mallonee in the song "Shellshocked," which sums up this brooding collection of 16 melancholy songs released in the UK on the recently reborn Fundamental Records. _Locket Full of Moonlight_ was originally released in the states with 10 songs via the Internet by PasteMusic.com in late 2002. On this version, we find all ten of those songs partnered with six bonus tracks four from the 2000 fan club release Electromeo and two from the Bonus EP Room Despair that was added to the Compass Records release of the Vigilantes of Love alt-country masterpiece Audible Sigh, all wrapped up in some ultra-fine artwork--in general, a superior addition to its first release.

From the throbbing intro to the title track Locket Full of Moonlight in the opening seconds of the CD to the hauntingly beautiful harmonica and feedback laced reprise of the same title ten songs later, it is clear that Mallonee is wearing both his heart and his love for brooding pop music on his sleeve. Images of lost love and romance on the rocks permeate the songs. When we hear Mallonee's weather-beaten voice emote lyrics like "so close we can touch . . . and God how I'd love to / but we're a million miles apart . . . at my table for two," "you'd always like to be someone else / but you're only who you are," or "just how did this start . . . this breaking of our hearts / is there anything anymore that beats true," suddenly we are there in the midst of that anguish to which all of us can relate. While the themes are similar to other Mallonee musings, the music differs greatly from the folk-rock and alt-country stylings of his former band, Vigilantes of Love, and his more recent southern-fried Brit-pop solo offerings Perfumed Letter and the scrapbook-like Fetal Position. Somber and spooky, Mallonee explores new ground and comes up with a musical hue that perfectly colors over the lines he sings.

On many occasions artists add bonus tracks to re-released CDs in a weak effort to re-sell the same product to diehard fans. However, the six bonus tracks added to this disc are a perfect artistic addition and pick up right where the main body of songs leave off, all the while becoming more introspective, pained, and personal. The imagery changes, but the mood is the same. "Pen the lament . . . shadow your eyes / there's a vapor trail stretching . . .'cross a Kansas sky / dirt lot kids . . . making dirt lot plans / shuffle forward . . . your hat in hand / . . . / dirt lot kids . . . doing dirt lot deeds / way too much living . . . in the minor key" sums up the despair addressed in these bonus songs.

But as is true with the body of Mallonee's work, he offers a ray of hope in both the spiritual world and the sacramental things of everyday life. "I was moved more by her tears . . . than I ever was a sermon / got more from every tender kiss . . . than I ever got from book learning" he sings in Sweetness and Light, and continues the thought process in Bearing the Load: "prayers slip through the fan blades and they open every door / bearing the load, bearing the load."

Mallonee's foray as a solo artist into pop music and away from the Americana sound of Vigilantes of Love has not been popular with all of his fans, but do not confuse this with any letdown in his prowess as a songwriter. The songs on Locket Full of Moonlight are strong and suck the listener into the writer's struggles, or maybe they draw us into our own struggles. It's a bit hard to tell.

Joel Kiekintveld July 15, 2004