Seven Dials

Despite it taking eight years for Roddy Frame to release a solo follow-up to 2006’s excellent Western Skies, it’s clearly been worth the wait. Seven Dials is one of the finest albums he’s ever made, on his own or with his band Aztec Camera. High praise indeed, but Frame’s music always suggested he’d only get better with age. As a smart songwriter with a strong introspective side, Frame is someone who's benefited from the capabilities of modern recording studios to achieve the intimate fidelity necessary for songs like “White Pony,” “Into the Sun,” and the Caribbean-breezy, Aztec Camera–reminiscent “Rear View Mirror.” Recorded at West Heath Studios, the home of AED Records—a label formed by Edwyn Collins in 2011 and produced by Frame and Sebastian Lewsley—Seven Dials features just drummer Adrian Meehan and keyboardist Mark Edwards, Frame’s longtime coconspirator, adding to Frame’s instrumental and vocal duties. “Postcard” shows he can still rock within his own limits, while “English Garden” is an honest, first-rate ballad that illustrates Frame’s graceful talents in just four minutes of beauty.