Leave it to Richard Thompson to see to it that his closest-ever flirtation with an actual hit single is an inescapably infectious sing-along told from the perspective of a psychopath bent on an evening of rape, murder, and mayhem. That would be “I Feel So Good,” the second song on Thompson’s 1991 tour-de-force Rumor And Sigh, a remarkable album filled with a plethora of delirious hooks and perverse, menacing thrills. “Read About Love” kicks things off with a driving, Townsend-esque rocker about sexual alienation and progresses through a veritable encyclopedia of social and psychological dysfunction on tracks like “I Misunderstood” (“I thought she was saying good luck/ She was saying goodbye”) and the gutter rat’s prayer “God Loves A Drunk.” Perhaps most notable is the noir-ish tale of a doomed criminal and his prized motorcycle, “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” a staggering showcase for Thompson’s storytelling and playing that rates amongst his acknowledged masterpieces. Overall, Rumor And Sigh is as direct an album as Thompson has ever made, sharpening his focus down to its most accessible elements, while sacrificing none of his black-humored vision.