There's a lesson to be learned from Loner, and it's all about how you name things. For example, if you're someone who makes music in your bedroom on a computer, you're practically asking for it calling yourself Loner. It conjures up an image of an unwashed technophile hunched over his computer, working endlessly on his loops and samples. Unwashed lank hair is only brushed away from Loner's face so the can push a Ginster's sausage roll into his gob while he considers the best way to mix the strings he's just layered up. That's the image it conjures up, whether Geoff Smith is in fact a slightly whiffy bedroom hermit is open to debate of course.Then there's Western Sci-Fi. Surely this is going to be an album full of insane ideas, fusing BBC Radiophonic Workshop's strangest output on to Ennio Morricone and wrapping it all up in some very futuristic bacofoil. All of which just goes to show that you can't judge an album on its title alone, because there's nothing here that sounds remotely western or sci-fi. Smith's voice is remarkably detached and wistful though, drifting over each of these compositions like a particularly chilly mist. If you're looking for an analogy, then you could say that Loner's vocal delivery is distant and cold, much like the vast expanse of space that most sci-fi seems to occur in.But such criticisms are a little early, because Western Sci-Fi starts beautifully with 'Lights Which Pass' and 'Show a Little Love'.'Lights Which Pass' features some aching strings over a quietly bubbling electronica track, while Loner's vocals describe what sounds like the end of a relationship in a way that sounds both disinterested and terminally depressed. It's a beautiful start, that pulls you straight in and would have you believe that you might have stumbled upon a great find.A basic but effective guitar line kicks off 'Show A Little Love' which skips along nicely with an unexpected but welcoming skiffle beat. More gloom awaits though as Loner hits a depressive streak come the chorus. Finding a heartbreaking melody and coupling it with some dramatic tender strings appears to be a particular forte of Loner, and here he employs it with devastating perfection.'The Fire You Had' inhabits similar territory, it’s depressing as hell thrumming away with a chorus from what sounds like the Suicidal Benedictine Monks Tabernacle Choir practicing shortly before their unfortunate “accident”.'I’m Not Sorry' ups the stakes a little, in that it isn’t quite as depressing as we’re becoming accustomed to. For a start there’s a distinctly more up beat drum pattern. And then there’s a vocal line that recalls Duran Durans’ 'View To A Kill'. By this point though, you know that if Loner really had composed a Bond film theme he’d probably have insisted on a script change so that Bond’s knackers fall foul to a stray laser beam and his squeeze perishes in a submarine explosion or something.So, we’ve established that Loner is pretty handy with a tune, albeit a fairly downbeat one, and that at times Western Sci-Fi can be crushingly depressing. It is also an album that is best played in small chunks, because it is practically impossible to stay awake for the duration. If you do manage to keep consciousness, it’s then impossible to stay away from the knife drawer. Nice touches abound on most of these tracks, but there is little to distinguish them from one another as the album progresses.An accusation of tedium would not be entirely without justification at times. But there are enough moments throughout the album that suggest that if Loner could escape his bedroom and get happy, he’d probably come up with something pretty amazing.For now we’ll stick to listening to the sweeping lounge swing of 'Without You' every now and again and remind ourselves that when Loner finishes his Western Sci-Fi adventure we expect a much better album from him. 53%[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsNn_ucAUPE[/youtube] Loner on MySpace