Leaves: Breathe

It's hard to believe, but the umpteenth full-length album by Australia's Midnight Oil makes its statements in a subtle, understated, almost low-key fashion. Singer Peter Garrett sets aside his penchant for overblown melodrama, replacing it with an earnest maturity that actually suits the band's songs pretty well. He's still singing about hope and justice and violated homelands—and he's still recognizable as that bald guy from Midnight Oil—but he has toned down his warbling assault. It all presents a strange phenomenon: Midnight Oil's commercial success has been wrought by big-sounding, overblown singles, and there aren't any here. So, looking at the band's lengthy track record, making a record this safe was actually a dangerous move. Hopefully it'll pay off, because Breathe deserves an audience.