From Brisbane, Australia, Pickering writes songs that keep matters recognizably alt country — reminiscent, especially, of Wilco and Ryan Adams — while his soaring yet affectingly fragile voice threatens to elevate them into some new genre entirely of Pickering's own invention. On the best moments on this album — "Chalk Outline," "All as It Should Be," "Good Bye Cruel World" — his startling vocal ushers the ghosts of Jeff Buckley and Art Garfunkel into view. And, unlike many self-released albums, A Safer Place does not suffer unduly from a conflict between ambition and budget. "The Stars Will Fall Down Tonight" escalates from gentle beginnings into a modest epic, making dramatic use of accordion, cymbals and sepulchral backing vocals.