Of course, it involves some adjustment. For example, Night Light was recorded back in the autumn of 2002, but is only coming out now. "I had to start writing for the new Barenaked Ladies record then, and I couldn't really divide my attention and be fair to both parties," Hearn says. "So I left Night Light on the back burner. With BNL, it was great to collaborate with the rest of the guys. But I enjoy this project and it's a different dynamic, where I can work a song from the ground up, take it where I want."

That would be a gentle, lilting place much of the time, both in Hearn's soft voice and in the vaguely African-tinged guitar on songs like "Night Light" and "Where Did You Go?" Says Hearn, "I'm definitely influenced by that kind of highlife guitar style. I was trying to write in more open tunings. I learned guitar playing bluegrass and classical, so I'm very much into finger-picking rather than power-chord strumming."

The songs on Night Light are fascinating, detailed little gems, many permeated by a sense of loss conjured up via memory. The people in these songs are abandoned ("Where Did You Go?"), surviving abandonment ("Ball of Twine"), missing a pilfered guitar ("Lost and Stolen") or witnessing a loss of innocence ("Invite Me In"), among other things.

"I think the last five years were quite a rollercoaster for me," says Hearn, who suffered a near-fatal struggle with leukemia in 1998, ultimately documenting the experience on the second Thinbuckle album, H-Wing (2001). "It's interesting to see what happens to relationships through a health crisis. I think there was some genuine sadness when I would write [the songs for Night Light], and confusion. I think through my writing I was feeling that, exploring that, expressing it. But then there's songs like 'Night Light,' which is about the good side of things. As bad as things get, there's always that hope at the end of the day."

In fact, H-Wing ultimately led to a connection with one of Hearn's musical heroes, Lou Reed, who was so impressed with the album that he's now recorded a vocal track (over the telephone) for one of Hearn's songs. "He's become a good champion [of my music]," says Hearn. "He told me that I went to a place that most people don't go, and reported back about it. And that it was important.

"Who knows?" says Hearn. "Maybe I'll even get to play with Lou and fulfill a lifetime dream."