Things seemed to be looking up for Jeff Finlin. The Fort Collins singer-songwriter, the subject of a worshipful 5280 profile by Pulitzer winner J.R. Moehringer (and praise from Bruce Springsteen), saw 2006's Angels in Disguise, his previous disc, win release by WEA/Korova overseas and Rykodisc stateside. But two years later, he's delivering his hyper-literate tales without assistance from a record company other than his own. Granted, Finlin's craggy voice and eccentric phrasing makes him something of a tough sell, and he doesn't make things easier by kicking off his latest CD with some of his less-accessible fare before rocking out with "Jesus Was a Motorcycle Man." But "Is This Love" and the concluding "In My Masterpiece" show that this not-so-plain man still deserves to be heard.