One important record that was not in my Release Radar last week was the new solo album from Greg Dulli, Random Desire.

“Without desire, most of the world’s problems would be solved and it would be a miserable place to live.” -Greg Dulli

After losing guitarist Dave Rosser to colon cancer, and seeing the rest of his band members move on to separate side projects, Dulli decides on a solo project, arriving at the ten songs that make up Random Desire.

It starts off at a frenetic pace with “Pantomima” but loses steam thereafter. This is the best song on the album by far, reminiscent of the band that put him on the map. But this isn’t an Afghan Whigs affair, it’s more of a fling with the singer/songwriter behind the band. A slow-moving tryst throughout, brooding and hopeful to the bitter end.

“Sempre” starts slow but gains speed, ending up somewhere in the vein of the Twilight Singers, which is a good thing. Much of this album leans toward the ‘Singers side of Dulli, with lush instrumentation, including some beautiful piano work.

“Marry Me,” “The Tide,” and “Scorpio” are all slow rockers. Even “It Falls Apart” is a bit slower-paced, but there’s something endearing in this song. Its eerieness turns hopeful, and we see light at the end of the tunnel. Dulli has perfected this type of songwriting throughout his career and “It Falls Apart” is some of his finest work.

I hoped for a few more rockers to balance the darkness, but Dulli is a heavy songwriter so, as fans, we expect oodles of moodiness. I’m hopeful that many of these songs will have much more energy during the live set and reveal themselves as Dulli had hoped.

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