Evidently wary of the heavy-handed earnestness that blights many an acoustic singer-songwriter, Josh Ritter has lately been looking for ways to extend his range. Last year’s ‘The Animal Years’ was a move away from the steady James Taylorisms of his first two records, and contained two post-Dylan protest epics in “Girl In The War” and “Thin Blue Flame”.

This album, his fourth, moves things on even further – and finds Ritter cutting loose and having some old-fashioned fun. ‘The Historical Conquests…’, recorded in a Maine farmhouse with a bunch of able musician friends and the grandly-titled Great North Sound Society Orchestra, is the sound of Ritter cutting loose: with fourteen short, sharp, richly melodic songs about love, gunslingers and Joan of Arc.

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It’s clear from the crashing cymbals, clanging guitar and distorted vocals of “To The Dogs Or Whoever” that he’s having a ball. Now invoking the Dylan of ‘Highway 61 rather than the pale social commentator of ’63, here there’s a spirit of adventure that continues throughout. There’s a real gallop to the piano-driven “Real Long Distance”, whilst the Beatlesy, vaguely funky “Rumours” finds Ritter revelling in his new-found freedom: “My orchestra is gigantic / This sound could sink the Titanic / And the string section’s screaming / Like horses in a barn burnin’ up”.

In his more restive moments, there’s a raw, edge-of-the-moment feel to “Open Doors” and “Wait For Love” that suggests he’s less precious about the packaging of his art these days. Some songs, like the 50-second “Moons”, are content to appear as mere impressions of ideas. However Ritter’s ideas manifest themselves though, the overall effect of this loosening up is to show him in a new light. More than just as a troubadour, the Josh Ritter who appears here is primarily a writer of quality pop songs.

ROB HUGHES