*** MARK EITZEL, “60 Watt Silver Lining”, Warner Bros.

Fits of melancholy are nothing new in the pop world--from the arty languor of “slow-core” artists such as Codeine to the raging ennui of Nine Inch Nails. Former American Music Club frontman Mark Eitzel doesn’t take his music to such extremes, but that doesn’t mean the songs make any less impact. It’s the subtlety and Morrissey-esque wit that draw you in.

The scenarios that emerge in these richly textured, mostly acoustic tunes range from the upbeat pessimism of “Some Bartenders Have the Gift of Pardon” to the glum optimism of “Aspirin.” The arrangements cradle Eitzel’s crooning vocals, and Mark Isham’s lovely trumpet flutters and brays its embellishments.

A diluted sense of pop melodrama crops up now and again, validating Eitzel’s liner-notes praises of Burt Bacharach, ABBA, Barbra Streisand and Carole King. But it’s understatement rather than overstatement that makes “60 Watt Silver Lining” glow.