The songwriting talent spectrum for members (and former members) of Belle and Sebastian is clearly defined. At one end, there's Stevie Jackson and Isobel Campbell, whose contributions to Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant make for intermittently painful listening. At the other end is Stuart Murdoch, whose empathic accounts of young outsiders have captured the hearts and imaginations of the wussier subjects of the disenfranchised youth market. In between is ex-Belle and Sebastian bassist Stuart David, who has left the band to devote himself fully to Looper, a project based around keyboards and samplers.

Looper has more in common with twee-tronic acts like Kitty Craft and the Busy Signals than his former band, a disparity that has grown remarkably more noticeable since Looper's first full-length, Up a Tree. Here, the addition of two bandmates and David's increased focus on the project has allowed for greater complexity than ever before. Sure, Up a Tree had its pleasures, but they were simple ones-- the gentle balladry of "Quiet and Small," and David's account of the postal romance he shared with wife Karn were indisputably charming, but far from innovative.

Although Stuart David is a novelist as well as a musician, the lyrics on The Geometrid sometimes tend towards the banal. This is probably linked to the phasing out of the sing/speak technique he employed on past efforts. However, repeated choruses of "Hey, Uncle Ray/ Hee-eeey, Uncle Ray" and "Cut your money hair" leave me nostalgic for the innocuous story- telling David of Up a Tree and The Boy with the Arab Strap's "A Spaceboy Dream."

"These Things," which pairs drum machine beats and assorted beeps with a "wee" guitar melody (as the liner notes put it), is one of the album's standout moments. David lists the things that bring him closer to happiness, including "Seinfeld," IQU and New York. The pairing of technology and simplicity works best here, and on "Tomorrow's World," on which Karn harmonizes in a pretty but unpolished manner, with her husband adding a very human vulnerability to the all-electronic arrangement. When David sings, "I'm a precious little boy," he nails it on the head.

Although it's unlikely that Stuart David will ever become as gifted a songwriter as Stuart Murdoch, he's crafted a distinctive sound with this band. The Geometrid serves as a charming, if slight, pleasure, but with more time to devote to the project, Looper may yet create a more substantial sound.

-Meg Zamula