Head Sprout Paddy Mcaloon had a choice after making Two Wheels Good (known in England as Steve McQueen), Prefab Sprout's second, and most successful, album. Turn left and try to be more arch. Or turn right – the band was already on the verge of it – to slicker, more treacly arrangements. McAloon turned right, and the wheel nearly came off in his hands.

Like the Smiths, Prefab Sprout is the darling of a sizable British (and smaller American) depressoid set. McAloon's voice, with Wendy Smith's piping alongside, is the band's most distinctive instrument; and his talky lost-love lyrics are smart, if self-conscious, especially on Swoon, the Sprouts' 1984 debut.

On From Langley Park to Memphis, McAloon tries leavening disjointed talk with instrumental gimmickry. Songs built around McAloon's guitar are lost in a swirl of strings and the noodlings of no less than five engineers and four producers, including McAloon himself. Thomas Dolby is along again for a few tracks. But where on Steve McQueen, Dolby put in unifying snap, he settles this time for random bits of Scritti Politti-like synth.

"Cars and Girls" – McAloon's subtle swipe at Bruce Springsteen – most vividly recalls the crafty pop of 1985's Steve McQueen, which was loudly hailed – and deservedly so – in the London press. "Hey Manhattan!" (which features Pete Townshend on acoustic guitar) is about McAloon's first, somehow symbolic impressions of New York, and his are no sharper than those of most other tourists.

From Langley Park to Memphis also features a minor attempt at gospel ("I Remember That") and soul schmaltz ("Nightingales"), complete with Stevie Wonder harmonica solo. Overreaching once needn't spoil a career. If McAloon can abandon the grab-bag approach, From Langley Park to Memphis will be put down to second-album slump, one album too late. (RS 528)

PETER WILKINSON