British singer-songwriter Lloyd Cole has been living in the U.S. long enough to have picked up a sense of country music and heartland rock, enough to make Broken Record a comfortable fit with most alt-country folks. The overall tone is one of restraint, like much of his work since the Commotions. “Westchester County Jail” is a perfect cowpoke mock-up, whether you know just how tony Westchester is (a suburb of NYC) or not. “Oh Genevieve,” written with former Commotion Blair Cowan, who is credited on keyboards, is a jaunty cruise through romantic yearning. “Writers Retreat!” takes a jeering look at a would-be writer going through a midlife crisis. “If I Were a Song” sounds like the results of attending a writer’s retreat. “Why In the World?” assesses Cole’s own midlife crisis. The accordion leading off “Man Overboard” suggests a sea chantey but is then spiked with Cole’s poetic verse. “Double Happiness” picks up the pace for a country-rock tune that still keeps a city vibe tucked inside.