This is the second release that Tuba Skinny member Max Bien-Kahn has done in the past six months under the Max and the Martians banner, and they couldn’t be more different: Last year’s Stay at Home Demos was made for the moment, a set of Covid-themed songs with a proudly homemade sound; while this more-produced album is in a more timeless power-pop vein.

There’s still a Covid reference or two between the lines—or maybe it’s just that any album that begins with a reference to sitting in a burning building is bound to sound timely in 2021. But these songs are all concerned with the classic pop topic of romantic loss. No idea whether Bien-Kahn was going through a split when writing these songs, but it does play like a model breakup album, and the emotional tone is in fact miserable from start to finish. That doesn’t mean it’s a depressing album, but it does mean that the hooks and grooves are there for reassurance as the singer picks up the pieces.

The songs wind up covering the different stages of a breakup: The sunniest track, “Love on Vacation,” dreams of heading to a beach without the ex. “Lust Will Linger” is self-explanatory, and “Milky Way” gets to the endless-party stage, with the opening line “Gonna find the abyss, gonna try to lose my mind.” Not until album’s end, with the spooky “Lay Your Body,” does the singer stare loneliness in the eye. Stylistically there’s zero Tuba Skinny crossover (though leader Shaye Cohn does appear) but a bit of Big Star (specifically their lowdown third album) and hints of country and doo-wop. It’s a good example of how a tough stretch can wind up turning a songwriter loose.