Seven is lucky number for fans of music by Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Retriever

Nettwerk America

Toronto’s Ron Sexsmith is one of the most intelligent and sensitive young singer/songwriters in the business, and “Retriever,” his seventh album, finds him in an oddly peppy mood.

Take “From Now On,” a thinly veiled anti-Bush slugger. It’s the hap-hap-happiest protest song you’ll ever hear.

“We live in times where choice is frowned upon /Afraid even to raise our voice in song,” he sings, before declaring brightly that a “new day’s coming.”

Writing and recording in London, where he linked up with Brit rockers Travis, might have helped. (Travis’ drummer, Neil Primrose, sits in on several tracks.) He’s also spent time gigging with Coldplay.

Whatever the inspiration, Mr. Sexsmith has discovered a knack for strong melodic pop.

The orchestrated “Not About to Lose” droops under pleasant, Lennon-Ono sap. The piano-driven “Tomorrow in Her Eyes,” again featuring an orchestral bedding, would please the Burt Bacharach disciple in Elvis Costello. “Happiness” bounces with a Herman’s Hermits smiley face.

“Retriever’s” digressions work as well as its uptempo core.

A Gordon Lightfoot-y dirge, “For the Driver,” fades out with an ambient nod to Radiohead. And the high-’70s soul smoothie “Whatever it Takes,” written consciously with Bill Withers in mind, knocks off the style with studied perfection.

Mr. Sexsmith, whose voice is reminiscent but not imitative of Jackson Browne, has long since dumped the electronica backdrops of his first few albums. Producer Martin Terefe, who plays a variety of instruments throughout the set, keeps “Retriever” to a rootsy minimalism.

One problem, if you can call it that, is that its lead track, “Hard Bargain,” is so satisfying that what follows doesn’t quite match its strength.

“Hard Bargain” is a near-funky ballad (think heartbeat Neil Young) with a beautifully simple hook and an ambivalent lyric.

“How’s a guy supposed to fail with someone like you around?” Mr. Sexsmith asks from the perspective of an all-too-typical male wilting in the presence of someone seemingly perfect. For a guy apt to wallow in frailty, a lover’s lifeline isn’t as welcome as one would think.

Even without “Hard Bargain,” though, “Retriever” probably ranks as Mr. Sexsmith’s best effort yet.