According to Deadman's chief wrangler, Steven Collins, the band aspires to "feel like a really great Clint Eastwood western." By this, it is assumed, Deadman wishes to sound windswept, violent, and cheap. If that was Deadman's intention, it has failed miserably. While Cuatro Canciones is undoubtedly aloof and maybe even a little mysterious, it is, by far, much more pleasant than mean. As the title suggests, the c.d. consists of four songs, each of which is marked by the band's distinctly somber sensibility. Overall, Deadman's sound is one of soft yearning, marked in places by plangent guitars that flare like sheet lightning in the darkling gloom of brushed drums and gently rolling bass. Collins' plaintive vocals nestle in a gown of crushed velvet that not only caresses it, but also helps to draw attention away from its infrequent weak moments. While some may quip that the band sounds like the Cowboy Junkies spaced out on morphine and Quaaludes, many of its tunes have a dark delicacy that the Canadian combo hasn't attained for years.