Mitchell Froom is a man of many talents, wearing the hats of producer, composer, arranger and musician with equal amounts of panache. Although his recognizably- smooth touches have enlivened the creations of Paul McCartney, Crowded House and American Music Club, he's often contemplated what life would be like on the other side of the studio. Dopamine, an album three years in the making, resulted. It's a compilation of sorts: While Froom penned and arranged the dozen tracks, he recruited a few friends to lyricize and perform them. The project's budget was extremely low, although you couldn't conclude this from its diverse lineup of vocalists and recording techniques. Eschewing samples, Froom opted to create his own hooks through sound effects and unexpected methods of instrumentation. String and horn sections are punctuated with door slams, whips and a mindboggling assortment of keyboards ranging from Hammond to harmonium.

Suzanne Vega (Mrs. Froom) sings in a whisper on the title track ("Could be coffee, could be cocaine/ It's what you want in a chemical"), and Sheryl Crow practically screams over the jarring tones of "Monkey Mind." "Wave," sung by Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori, transports the listener to a tropical neverland fraught with colorful drinks and tiki torches. But Dopamine's high point is the jazzy, loungy, uptown groove of "Noodletown," which doubles as the theme song for Sessions at West 54th, one of the best music programs on TV. It's intriguing, imaginative, adventurous-- and a surefire cure for pain.

-Susan Moll