"It's time to break this plaster cast and leave your past behind," Badly Drawn Boy's Damon Gough sings on Banana Skin Shoes. That's no easy feat, especially for an artist who hasn't made an album in a decade. Yet, on his eighth album, Gough manages to move on by trying lots of different, new-to-him sounds and forgiving those who made mistakes in the past -- especially himself. It's been longer than ten years since he's sounded this confident; not coincidentally, he begins Banana Skin Shoes with his boldest statements of purpose. The title track, with its flashy keyboards and funky brass hits, shakes off the hesitancy that shadowed much of his work before his hiatus and lets listeners know right away that this is a new era. He keeps up the momentum on "Is This a Dream?," where the busy, choppy production works for the song instead of against it -- an issue that sometimes bogged down his previous albums. From there, Gough hops from style to style on Banana Skin Shoes with the excitement of someone who's fallen in love with music again. The sheer amount of musical territory he covers reflects a decade's worth of living, whether it's the breezy bossa nova sway of "You and Me Against the World," which suggests that flexibility, not sheer strength, is the key to survival, the bubbly soft rock of "I Need Someone to Trust," or the driving psych-pop of "Colours." As wide-ranging as Banana Skin Shoes is, it never feels like Gough is dabbling. The album's sounds are as carefully considered as the motifs of tears, apples, and snowy spring days that recur in its lyrics, and the flourishes of brass that pop up throughout feel like triumphant fanfares. When Gough does look back, it's to give respect to the history -- shifting relationships, parenthood, all the hallmarks of a life in progress -- that made him who he is. He bids a fond farewell to a former partner on "I Just Wanna Wish You Happiness," the kind of hopeful breakup song that can only come from years of growth and acceptance; on the Motown-tinged "Tony Wilson Said," he reflects on his beloved Manchester. Gough makes time for the heartwarming, bittersweet pop that fans fell in love with two decades before on songs such as "Funny Time of Year" and the philosophical "Appletree Boulevard." It's a welcome surprise, however, just how light the finest moments on Banana Skin Shoes are. "I'm Not Sure What It Is" is a nimble mix of self-awareness and hope, while "I'll Do My Best" cleverly marries breezy early-'70s AM pop instrumentation with his renewed commitment to future happiness. While Banana Skin Shoes' sprawl could've used some editing, Gough makes it clear that this isn't Hour of Bewilderbeast or About a Boy -- it's about a man who's left the pain of the past where it belongs. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

1		Banana Skin Shoes
2		Is This a Dream?
3		I Just Wanna Wish You Happiness
4		I'm Not Sure What It Is
5		Tony Wilson Said
6		You and Me Against the World
7		I Need Someone to Trust
8		Note to Self
9		Colours
10		Funny Time of Year
11		Fly on the Wall
12		Never Change
13		Appletree Boulevard
14		I'll Do My Best