♫ Ben Folds and Nick Hornby | A

Ben Folds is the man behind the music. Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) crafts thoughtful lyrics. Therefore, their new collaborative album, Lonely Avenue, is like stepping into a short story — pretty with high-charged piano behind it. As every song brings you into the world of a specific person's "lonely avenue," it's surprising to feel so good after listening. Some of Hornby's lyrics express an overwhelming sense of bitterness. Folds sings, "Hope is a bastard/hope is a liar, a cheat, and a tease," in the team's ballad, "Picture Window." As he sings every song in first person with his charming but broken-in voice, it's easy to slip into the tales of a worn-out and loveless rock star, a divorced couple with a 9-year-old daughter, or even Sarah Palin's grandson's father, Levi Johnston.

Though "Levi Johnston's Blues" is Folds and Hornby's most controversial song on their album, it is also one of their most memorable. By paraphrasing Johnston's actual MySpace before he knocked-up Sarah Palin's daughter, listeners get a taste of an average teenage boy stuck in an irreversible situation. With lyrics like, "And when I try to tell them I'm 18 years old/ they say Levi it's too late/ you've got to do as you're told," listeners of all ages can relate — taking teenagers back to times that they've made mistakes during youthful years. Although "Levi Johnston's Blues" sounds a bit depressing, the ironically smart and rather optimistic tone makes you want to learn and relate to the life lessons.

As every song brings something new to their creation, it's concluded that no one makes a better pop/rock album than two cynical smart-asses with sweet dispositions. Ben Folds and Nick Hornby are music's new peanut butter and jelly.