" data-original-title="" title="">Alex Tremblay's album of that name are essentially his own (he composed and arranged every number), so the outcome must be appraised for the most part using those ingredients as a touchstone. Not that the musicianship is unimportant; on the contrary, the way in which Tremblay's quintet assesses and performs his generally agreeable themes is another notable element in the equation.

While Tremblay's ideas are mainly well-defined and accessible, he has done himself no favors by assuming that a pair of vocals might enhance the outcome, even though one of them ("Hymn for the Early Departed") was written to honor the young victims of the horrific mass shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook High School in 2012. Granted, Tremblay's heart is in the right place, but this is a dirge, a solemn and slumberous way to lower the curtain on an otherwise upbeat session.