Owen is Mike Kinsella, a one man effort to put you to sleep. Kinsella gave up his vagrant indie wanderings in and around Chicago three years ago, and has since settled into his new persona by the grace of Polyvinyl Records. Since then, Owen has become a sort of comfort zone, bordering on sedative and depressing, emanating from your speakers and tugging slightly on your heart strings with lyrics like “But you should go — I’ll be OK / I promised myself I’d finally start that book I’ve been meaning to read about the French Revolution.”

If Owen’s latest effort, I Do Perceive, adds anything to his resume, it’s the expansion from three-to-four minute lulls to five-to-six minute lulls. Like all of Owen’s albums, he concentrates on delicate but structured songs built from a soft acoustic harmony. Think of Owen’s music as a river: Delicate, flowing sounds sweep the listener’s attention in a current of dream-pop sounds as Kinsella’s voice emanates from every direction, yet never breaches a whisper. Previous songs like “Accidentally” found Owen using single hooks to draw sympathetic, vulnerable listeners as Kinsella’s instrumentation — multiple guitars, synthesizers, keyboards — seamlessly fills through verses, ascending and descending into simplistic strumming or cacophonous interludes.

Perceive follows that trend through its entirety (all eight tracks), the best examples being “Bed Abuse” and “Put Your Hands on Me, My Love.” By using only soft, somnific melodies, Owen finds the perfect echo to his lovelorn lyrics and, like both of Owen’s previous albums, the topics of Perceive don’t stray from the range of broken relationships and the placement of his indictments. I Do Perceive, being the third album to showcase this same music, establishes this sound as “typical Owen.”

Throughout his three-album solo career, Kinsella has chosen not to build upon or even refine his sound. Owen’s ethereal music, while inviting and easy to listen to, is so repetitive that not only could all eight tracks of this album be one, but his whole career could condensed into a single track. While “Bed Abuse” and “Lights Out” are standout tracks, his self-titled debut has been his best album, and Owen might owe this to the debut of his attractive dream-pop sound. After three albums, it has become repetitive. And because Kinsella will not leave this comfort zone, it seems Owen will never be more than a two-and-a-half-star artist.

Rating:  2.5 out of 5 stars