That Kasey Chambers is one of the biggest names in Australian music is not up for dispute. But that she’s also one of the most prolific – for the most part, her albums have been separated by a mere two years – is also part of what has endeared her to audiences. When she’s not been touring, she’s been writing and recording.

Now married to Shane Nicholson, she hasn’t let anything slow her down – fourth album Carnival follows on quick-smart from Wayward Angel, which is considered her finest album, filled with memorable songs touched by heartache as her first marriage dissolved. Perhaps that’s why it felt like an alt.country classic in the making; it was brutal and forlorn and filled with the pain that makes for the best country music.

But most importantly it also had a clutch of really great songs. Carnival simply doesn’t come close to matching it – there’s no “Bluebird” or “Like a River” to really take it up a notch. “Colour of the Carnival” gets this release off to a strong start, but the likes of “The Rain” don’t go anywhere in particular. Duets with Bernard Fanning (who essentially copied Chambers’ musical template for his solo debut Tea and Sympathy last year) on “Hard Road” and with You Am I’s Tim Rogers on the rollicking “I Got You Now” are stand-outs, as is the rhythmic “Railroad”.

But tracks like “Dangerous” simply don’t go anywhere. Washes of `80s synth keyboards surprise on the likes of “Surrender”, and Carnival is more disjointed than any of Chambers’ previous albums. The swinging “Light Up a Candle” is strong, but single “Nothing At All” is another flat spot without any specific direction. That’s the thing that most strikes about Carnival – the songs just aren’t up to Chambers’ normally high standard. Good, certainly, but who wants good when you’ve had great in the past?