The history of popular music is littered with great talents who have not been able to make consistently great music following the break-up of the band in which they found success. Lennon and McCartney are the most obvious items of evidence here - no others need be offered.

Neil Finn defied the odds after Split Enz's demise by forming the equally good Crowded House. But, despite the fact that Finn was far more than a third of that band, two albums into his solo career it remains uncertain whether he has the chemistry right on his own. That said, if One Nil was the debut of some budding young singer/songwriter we'd be raving about it.

There are a number of tracks here that deserve a place among Finn's back catalogue of beautifully mournful pop - "Leonard & McCartney," as he once described the style (a joining of Leonard Cohen melancholy with Paul McCartney melodicism). Tracks like "The Climber," "Last To Know" and "Turn And Run" are simple, acoustic guitar-dominated songs that rely on Finn's chief strengths, an ear for a tune and a few simple, affecting words.

What Finn is up against, though, is his natural desire to stretch himself and search for new musical forms. But while this is an admirable ambition in itself, in effect it means that either Finn's songs are spoiled by over-production or the latter becomes a substitute for real songwriting. Tchad Blake, who engineered and mixed the record, is an exciting talent, but is simply not quite right for Finn when given full rein, despite his history working with Crowded House (where his efforts were balanced by the more poporientated producer Mitchell Froom).

In the end One Nil is both enticing and disappointing listening. There are many great songs here, but some of them work and some of them don't. And it's so easy to see how they could have been done better. ***½