The bands 6th studio album. Possibly their strongest release to date. Combines the darker hard edged sounds of previous albums like Brave Angel & Minerva with the more sensitive Americana styling of the Avalon & Babylon & Me record. Recommended!

The band's 1999 release "Brave Angel" remains the high-water mark, but a handful of the songs aboard "Minerva" resonate with the same kind of greatness. Gems include the dreamy "Silly Song" and the harmonic treat "So Sexy Avalon." "Captain Courageous" is bold in its literary roots and its unabashed sentimentality; a sweetly moving piece of music. Lyman braves new frontiers with the spacey 60's imagery of "Higher Than My Vertigo" and Amy Steinberg adds a Kate-Bush-ian spice to the beautifully rendered "Hallelujah Girl". Elsewhere, it's a commercialized, mainstreamed effort for the most part and that's the unfortunate slide towards the center of the road for Lyman and crew, whose "Brave Angel" had teeth to spare for half of the gloss on this production. - Bing Futch INK 19 Magazine

From Counselor, "Lie, lie, lady lie on my king-size and roll back your eyes/Air too thick to breathe, come inside of me." Using poetic nuances and metaphoric imagery, Lyman is a thinker of many things complex, trite, colorful and historic. Accrediting Elvis Costello as being one of his favorite songwriters, Lyman’s songwriting has parallels to the legendary pop artist’s. Like Costello, the lyrics talk about love that has been distorted by weak character and imperfection of spirit. Unlike Costello, however, the songs on Brave Angel are not as angry or blameful. Instead, the songs represent the cat and mouse relationship and a desperate need to have what you don’t already.

This is a highly infectious collection of engaging power pop delivered with confidence and skill.