It sounds like David Shaw has just been through a bad breakup, a heavy round of therapy, or both. In terms of emotional intensity, his second solo album outdoes anything he’s done with the Revivalists, which for those who know the band’s work, is saying something. This is not the most radio-friendly record he’s ever made (and it’s on his own label so there’s nobody to complain), but an album for fans who will appreciate that he’s opened up this much.

Breakup songs don’t get much franker than “Playing Soldier,” whose chorus alone tells you a lot about Shaw’s mindset (“Now that it’s over, I can stay sober, I’m done playing soldier.”) Or “End of Us,” which has an angry one-note guitar solo at just the moment when the singer realizes the affair is over. There are times when he pushes the confessional angle too far; the title track opens the album with a slowed-down spoken bit that says things the lyrics says, more artfully (and sounds oddly like a Prince parody). But for the most part he gets the feelings across. The music is appropriately kept low-key and the vocals at an intimate tone; the jangly and mid-tempo “When You Love Somebody” is the closest thing to a rocker (and one of the few tracks to include drums), even when he comes up with a catchy tune, which he does often enough, he avoids having a band crash in.

The one exception is the album’s one topical song, “Alabama.” Inspired by that state’s recent attack on reproductive rights, the lyric avoids mentioning those specific events—rather it just says “Alabama, you’re breaking my heart.” And since the song also proclaims love for the state, it has an appropriate Muscle Shoals feel. In this case he clearly wants to get the message across by doing a song that might get widely heard; he may be broken-hearted but he’s still a pro.