Since the advent of rock-and-roll, any attempt to stretch toward the moons of Porter and Coward has received critical adulation. The only thing that can block universal praise, be it earned or undeserving, is when the gatekeepers of standards do not know you exist. In the last year, they have finally discovered Stephin Merritt ("Papa Was a Rodeo"), and perhaps, through Ute Lemper, even Neil Hannon ("You Were Meant For Me"). They don't know the best songwriter in this tradition, though, and that is Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon. Neither The Gunnman nor his band's previous Andromeda Heights are grand slams, but their best songs are among the very distinct few that have had timelessness thrust upon them. Had Frank Sinatra found McAloon's late-nineties, early 21st-century catalog, he would have sung from it daily; when you discover it, you will do that too, whether in the shower, in the car, or from whatever stage life gives you.

When he first emerged in the eighties, McAloon was more verbose than Proust. Now his writing style has evolved, and he strips each song of its excess words. Words are confined to genuine actions, internal and external, that are economically drawn, then set to melodic lines so clean and exact that each rhythm seems to have been pulled out of the air. His best songs, even with the Manhattan Transfer vibe that musicians habitually bring to them, are examples of perfection because they sound like a real-life portrait of a relationship you've dissected nightly. Each song from Gunman, metaphored from head to toe, will keep the bed between your ears occupied. In "When You Get to Know Me Better" ("When you get to know me better/You'll learn to love me less"), the mixture of self-hate and self-awareness is so wonderfully drawn through the melody that it's hard not to take pride in your flaws. Through the song, you learn how well they can be hummed.

McAloon no longer wants his work to scream "Admire my intellect" -- the major flaw behind Prefab Sprout's debut, Swoon -- but to make the piece at hand feel as real and genuine as the listeners appreciating it. I don't think the melodically stilted "Cornfield Ablaze" rises above his transition work on From Langley Park to Memphis, but no other song here suggests that the stylistic changes are anything but improvements. His songs no longer aspire to be special to a select few listeners, but long to be understood, felt, and sung by all.

A loose concept album that brings Frank Sinatra's Wee Hours and Marty Robbins' Gunfighter Ballads to a showdown, The Gunman contains many of the best songs you can shoot through someone's heart this year. "Cowboy Dreams", "Wild Card in the Pack", "I'm a Troubled Man", "Love Will Find Someone for You" and "When You Get to Know Me Better" all demonstrate that McAloon is still the songwriter most capable of explaining the world around us "when love breaks down". His songs have always addressed each side of love's pained and glorious foundations, but now, through The Gunman, he's pulling every bullets from their sides. Through Prefab Sprout, new life has been given to love.