Aside from the sonic differences between the groups he leads, Rateliff recently explained in a MadeLoud interview that he sees The Wheel as the vehicle for placing "more focus on my voice and the words." That's likely why, despite the act's name seeming more worthy of a true band, the album actually sounds like the work of a singer-songwriter. Yes, he boasts some very capable assistance from his string duo, but it's Rateliff who strums, plinks, and beats (lightly) on six different instruments on the record. And, as intended, it's his high, emotive tenor and his charcoal sketches of human frailty that shine.

"Solomon" consists of little more than the ghostly swirls of an ancient piano melody, as Rateliff repeats his plea for understanding; "Ain't it hard luck livin' a good life?". The following track, "Whimper and Wail," is one of the album's best. While Rateliff recounts the pains incurred from running away, Carrie Beeter's gipsy violin weeping through the verses is reminiscent of Bob Dylan's Desire LP. On the chorus, though, she maintains steady staccato pulses. Over this comes the pricelessly self-effacing line, "I'm just a half-wit easily floored."

Rateliff spends most of the album in the upper half of his register, but he is also in fine voice when he relaxes into a near baritone. In the record's middle, an elegant trio of songs – "A Bedroom and a Wall," "Bumps and Bruises," and "Did You Come Here" – recall Leonard Cohen crossed with Nick Drake circa 1969.

"Tell Me," meanwhile, is pure Americana, with gentle swells of lap steel guitar and the steady thrumming of Julie Davis's upright bass. As with most of Rateliff's lyrics, though, the song becomes more elliptical than is typical for the genre. While it's not precisely clear what the protagonist means, the lines, "Oh look out it's under the bridge / Or on top of one little pinch" are certainly evocative of the struggles that befall Rateliff's characters throughout Desire and Dissolving Men.

The one major misstep here is the inclusion of the final number, "When We Were Towers." The lyrics aren't listed in the CD's booklet, so it would seem to be something of a bonus track, but it's really more of an ugly, farcical denouement to what had been a dark and lovely collection of 11 stories. Hit the STOP button after "Tell Me," and you'll be left in a much more fitting emotional climate, where the fulfillment of desire is always just beyond the reach of the wounded men who populate Nathaniel Rateliff's songs. Desire and Dissolving Men is an understated gem.

- Michael Keefe

Recommended Tracks: "Solomon," "Whimper and Wail," "Did You Come Here"