Of all ways to avoid the curse of the “indefinite hiatus” (which has already claimed Sleater-Kinney and At the Drive-In amongst others), Malcolm Middleton has surely picked one of the more interesting. With the release of his fifth album since 2002, he has made the monumental decision to split up...with himself; that is to say, he’s taking a break from the relentlessly cheery task of Being Malcolm Middleton and exploring other musical projects before making any more solo records. Consequently, Waxing Gibbous seems to have been constructed as the kind of album that sounds like a career retrospective, albeit one made up of all new tracks; his longest album to date, it’s as sprawling as his peerless debut (though nowhere near as dark), it’s produced by Geoff Allan, who was behind the desk for his second album Into the Woods, and contains the kind of sparkling, depressive pop that littered his breakthrough record A Brighter Beat. The album explodes into life with, ‘Red Travellin’ Socks’, one of the most deceptively uplifting songs ever to bemoan the lot of the touring musician. Possibly his finest single to date, it runs riot in a flurry of jangling guitars and fancy electro bleeps, as Middleton joyfully mumbles his woes - “I’m out of money and I’m sick of these songs...take me home.” A very Scottish take on Dorothy’s ruby-red slippers, the track is an instant classic, and sure to be adopted by a certain breed of world-weary musicians as an anthem...of sorts.Somehow, Waxing Gibbous manages to step up its game even further with its next two tracks, which again pick up the travelling theme. With its phantom train whistle and skittering beat, ’Kiss at the Station’ switfly establishes itself as one of the catchiest things he’s ever written, and a real contender for one of the year’s best songs; that becomes a certainty with the bridge which, with its slap bass and cod-African backing vocals (step away from the stop button...), resembles nothing more than Lionel Richie’s classic ‘All Night Long’. This is, I reiterate, a Very Good Thing. The eighties fixation continues with the hushed acoustic confessional of ‘Carry Me’, which brings the album back down to earth with a resounding thud. With his inimitable black humour, Wee Malcy spends the cello-laced lament deliberating how his life hasn’t matched up to the hopes, dreams and music videos of his youth ”“ “I’m sorry that I missed Bowie’s ‘Changes’,” he quips, “I still hold the thought of him dancing in his red shoes, and dismissed him as a cunt.”While the album doesn’t exactly tail off after this glorious trio, nothing else really scales its dizzy heights; his deft way with words remains in tact ”“ one track takes an endearing joy in opposable thumbs ”“ but, especially by the album’s second half, everything seems to blur together, even occasionally bordering on self-parody. The expansive production certainly buffs up songs like the bouncy ‘Shadows’, but also strips them of the emotional depth they obviously rely on. The balance is struck on both the slow-burning ‘Don’t Want to Sleep Tonight’, which closes out side one in a drift of low-key beats and heartbreaking harmonies, and the haunting ‘Ballad of Fuck All’; meanwhile, the former’s world-weary lyrics seem to explain, at least in part, the motive for his temporary absence ”“ his distaste for an industry where “honest thought and expression come second place to promotion...”If Malcolm Middleton is bowing out ”“ if not from music altogether, at least from being himself, for a little while ”“ he’s certainly left us with a lot to be getting on with; Waxing Gibbous is indisputably a solid effort, but sadly, it’s one which neither lives up to its predecessors, nor its fiery opening salvo. Still, since he’s not really going anywhere, it’s definitely more a “see you later” than a grand farewell, and is a far more comforting listen for it. 65%Malcolm Middleton on Myspace