Jethro Tull meets Roger Waters, in a dense folk-meets rock body of work with dark, somber moods and tones that run from cynical to tender, from sarcastic to desperate. It is melodic, nod-your-head and sing-along art-folk-rock, with earworms that will be implanted for weeks to come.

"The great leap forward" was Mao Tse Tung's socio-economic experiment in the 1950s, and The Great Leap explores life in today's totalitarian society. Subtitled "A Celebration Of Lemmings," it's the first part of a trilogy - with part 2 called Doomsday Afternoon scheduled for 2007. So there's an underlying theme, yet musically it's song-oriented with 11 short songs in 59 minutes that end too soon.

The Great Leap doesn't have quite the complexity of Chupacabras, and the wonderful female vocals Phideaux has employed with such great effect in prior releases are missing here. This one is more dense, heavier, and less overtly progressive than previous records, although once again Phideaux Xavier has penned unusual lyrics and the sometimes esoteric prose leaves a lot to your own interpretation. Listen to the haunting recriminations in "I Was Thinking", or the soft love-song ballad "Last", the psychedelia of "You and Me Against A World of Pain", and the story-teller lilt and lyrics of "The Waiting.

The song structures are reasonably complex and are intelligently constructed, and have a lot in common with Phideaux's hard-rocking third release Ghost Story. There aren't many technical sections, but listen to the carefully interwoven instrumentals - like the solo and the dual guitar sections in the middle of "Abducted". A significant number of musicians contribute to the album, yet it successfully retains its cohesion. Apparently Xavier and drummer Rich Hutchins develop the basic material then layer in the contributions of several regular and guest collaborators. Xavier's addictive vocals are delivered in a wonderfully clean, relaxed yet perfectly controlled, clearly enunciated mid-range, that recalls the early '70s English singers - like David Bowie and Peter Hammill - or perhaps American Matthew Parmenter.

Phideaux Xavier describes himself as a perfectionist, and his attention to detail shines through the the production quality. It's crisp, yet has an organic sound that's easy on the ear.

So it's a bit quirky, it's very catchy, and it definitely deserves its place in some of the Sea Of Tranquility writers' top 20 albums of 2006.