New York native Ian Love spent his teenage years lurking around the hardcore scene, playing with overlooked NYHC greats Burn, moving on to strum for emo faves Rival Schools and eventually fronting Cardia. Drawing on those lessons—along with surviving the worsethan-near-death experience of heroin addiction, getting married and having a daughter— Love's first solo outing bears the sincerity of a man who has found a good reason to be grateful for living. His gentle alto coasts above acoustic guitar-driven melodies embellished with piano, mellotron and more. Avoiding both Elliott Smith's weariness and Sam Beam's folkiness, the album recalls the former's intimacy and the latter's warmth, perhaps due to Love writing and recording entirely at home around his family (at times, with his newborn daughter resting on his shoulder). The vocals occasionally wander off key and the arrangements subtly stumble, but Love has learned to cherish his imperfections. Life's too short to sweat the little things.

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