Michael Been, songwriter, lead singer and bass player of the Call, has a lot on his mind and even more in his heart. Reconciled, the Call's fourth album, is a resolute declaration of political and spiritual faith. Though sometimes overbearing, Been's passion is laced with nervousness – a sign of the price he pays for reconciliation.

"I am shocking to myself every day," Been sings on "The Morning," and his effect on listeners can be equally startling. A stylistic melding of David Byrne, Jim Morrison, Bryan Ferry and Tom Verlaine, Been's vocals urge his songs in unpredictable directions. The title of the LP's first single, "I Still Believe (Great Design)," may seem like a facile assertion, but the quaver in Been's voice makes the song a declaration of hard-fought commitment. Such emotional layering – fury softened by compassion, steely resignation touched by sadness – is underscored by the musical interplay between guitarist Tom Ferrier and keyboardist Jim Goodwin. On the rocking diatribe "Blood Red (America)," Ferrier's stabbing, angry phrases are balanced by Goodwin's mournful synthesizer melody. Robbie Robertson adds a blistering guitar solo to Ferrier's stalking riff on "The Morning."

Thematically, Been's songs describe the angst resulting from America's moral and historical dislocation. Unhinged from the past ("Tore the Old Place Down") and fearful of the future ("I left so much behind/Now where do we go?" Been sings on "Sanctuary"), the nation exists in a harsh, seemingly pointless present. The stark religious imagery throughout Reconciled suggests a potential source of renewal. But Been is no born-again purveyor of blind belief and apocalyptic deliverance. By his lights, "sin and grace" mean wrongs done and possible ways out of the madness.

Been and the Call are reconciled to a compassionate understanding of people and their failings. As for the conditions those failings create and the heinous actions to which they can lead, the Call is as unreconciled to those as a burning conscience can make them. (RS 474)

ANTHONY DECURTIS