Faith & science. Some would have you believe they're mutually exclusive ideas. Some would say the two are inextricably entwined, coiled around each other's lengths in an eternally tightening knot. Shane Nicholson simply sees them as two ends of a remarkable album.

Faith & Science is Shane's long awaited second album (a wait that, it must be said, owed a lot to the heavy attention and touring Shane gave his debut in the US). A confident, diverse and finely crafted collection of tunes that were given the time to grow up and find their own feet.

Nine years ago Shane was introduced to the world via his hard working, Brisbane-based rock outfit Pretty Violet Stain. They scored a load of airplay, released a couple of EPs and an album (despite frustrating record label delays) and toured Australia incessantly. After their debut (and final) album, Parachutes & Gravity, was delayed for the third time running, Shane began to consider other avenues for his music. "We just felt like we were fighting a battle all the time and couldn't really move on because we were stuck trying to get this record out," remembers Shane. His much-dreamed-out solo side project suddenly beckoned him with a seductive finger and a flash of creamy thigh.

"I think it was a real knee jerk reaction from being in PVS for so long," Shane considers. "I was enjoying the freedom of being out on my own for a while and not being in the confines of a band as such." The result was It's A Movie, a beautifully sparse and simple collection of classic singer-songwriter tunes. As a solo offering, it did everything good solo albums should - it was intimate, confessional and dripped with honesty so raw it almost needed disinfecting. "It's A Movie for me was about taking a step back for a while, and doing things really organically and slowly," admits Shane. "Now, I understand that record was really melancholy but that's what I wanted to make at the time. I knew it would give me the platform to make the kind of record I have now with Faith & Science, which I think is more dynamic. I think of it as It's A Movie on steroids!"

From the opening strength of Safe And Sound, you can hear exactly what he means. That incredibly emotional voice is still there, but solidly backed by the music you know is driving his heart. It's not surprising when you consider that Australian luminaries such as Diesel and Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), perform on the album. "I called Jim and said, 'I'd just really like you come and mess my record up a bit, it sounds very Shane at the moment. I just want you to fuck with it.' He said, "That's what I do best!'" recalls Shane with a laugh. What is surprising is that Shane, a notorious control freak in the studio (in previous recordings he would perform most of the instruments himself), was able to relinquish some direction to others.

"I realised that by letting go a little bit and by trusting some other people's judgment, especially Nash's [Chambers, producer], you can be pleasantly surprised by where your songs can go. I did make a conscious decision that I wanted that to happen on this record. That's most of the reason that I really like this album - there are parts of it that I'm still discovering that other people did that I'm liking more all the time."

Admittedly, letting go of what Shane his considers his aural "journals" can be a difficult prospect. Sure, some of the songs on Faith & Science are much more hopeful and uplifting than his previous work, but conversely, the lows are equally more magnified. As Shane's personal life has transformed incredibly over the past two years, so has his body of work.

"There are such extremes, lyrically, in where I was at with this record," Shane offers. "It amazes me how much my life has changed since then. Writing songs like Acrobat Ache and Home, which are really unhappy, to writing songs like Everybody Loves You Now and All The Time In The World, they're just so different. It was a really cool thing to listen to this record all finished and see how much my life has changed in the time. That's what's important. For me, that's where my songs come from, it's what I'm doing or where I'm at, so it's important for me to document my life as I go. It's kind of why this record for me is much wider in scope that anything else I've done before, it documents that for me."

And the best thing is you don't need to sneak into his bedroom when he's out to read it for yourself - Shane has opened his heart once again and be it pain, joy or plain philosophical questioning, it's there for all to see. Faith & Science - we all need a bit of both when it comes down to it.