Whither Saint Julian? A departure from the largely justified "rockist" accusations that accompanied his last LP (and even farther from the Syd Barrett-smitten acid-drenched weirdness of 1984's fittingly-titled Fried), My Nation Underground dabbles in many different sounds and styles with a widely-varied musical palette. There's Julian's unmistakable voice, lyrics and muse-and a basic rock format-but there are also horns, strings, percussion, organ, and-on "Vegetation"-even a weird synth riff not unlike Art Of Noise. For the most part it works well (although Julian's attempts at funk are only slightly more convincing than Paul Weller's), creating the most diversely backward- and forward-looking album of his career. The psychedelia-inflected "Easter Everywhere" and "I'm Not Losing Sleep" are throwbacks to his first two solo LPs, the sappy-but-endearing "China Doll" is practically a lullaby, and the single, "Charlotte Anne," is simply one of the best songs he's ever released. While Julian's more recent work tends to lack the edge that made his early records with the Teardrop Explodes so exciting (well, he's ten years older), the above tracks find the bouncing baby in him coming out.