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A member of the rowdy, punk-country Mekons, Timms embraces restraint on her latest solo flight, singing the songs of In the World of Him from a male viewpoint. Blending a sweetly poised voice with quiet folk-rock arrangements, she dons the guises of her embattled characters, taking their anguished, sometimes violent tales at face value, resisting mockery and irony. The brooding “Corporal Chalkie” relives the horrors of war, while “Bomb” follows manly urges to insane extremes: As a weirdly perky synth drives the melody, Timms croons brightly, “Things are better, now we have the bomb.” Like the rest of In the World of Him, it’s a little spooky and utterly gripping.
