However many shades of scarlet you care to mark between them, there are essentially two kinds of break-up song. If you’ve ever heard Elvis Costello & The Attractions‘ 1986 marvel Blood & Chocolate, you’ll know that the divine form of each can be found there: both the giddy, sarcastic glee of “I Hope You’re Happy Now” and the devastating “I Want You”. And while it’s clear that Basia Bulat‘s Good Advice pitches for the former’s optimism, there is more than enough doubt cast in the record’s frailer moments to make this a complex, emotional affair.
Matthew Neale 