In interviews, Aaron Freeman—once known as Gene Ween—has explained he left his old band Ween to stay sober. “Covert Discretion,” the lead-off cut from his first album of new material in years, lays out the dead-end scenarios that could go on no longer. Ween were stunning craftsmen whose outrageous sense of humor caused many listeners to not take their music seriously. Yet, all fooling aside, the musicianship was impeccable. In Freeman's solo work, that same flawlessness comes through on FREEMAN. Even the “bum” notes on “(For a While) I Couldn’t Play My Guitar Like a Man” are on purpose. “The English and Western Stallion” connects to Freeman’s Ween days, and fans not aware of the situation might think this is a new Ween album. For years, people thought Ween's main duo were brothers—Gene and Dean Ween—and with good reason. Now, Freeman finishes his own sentences and his own songs. His first solo album, Marvelous Clouds, a collection of Rod McKuen covers, prepped us for the largely mellow magic of songs here, like “El Shaddai,” “Black Bush,” “More Than the World,” and “Delicate Green.”