Freedy Johnston´s best songs can convey more in a single detail--"And these pills won´t even let me cry," mourns the haunted narrator of "This Perfect World"--than most artists can express in an entire album. There´s nothing quite so poignant on Right Between the Promises, Johnson´s fourth album for Elektra and sixth overall. In fact, the album´s most aching sentiments are reserved for something not at all human, as the riffy verses of "Back to My Machine" melt into a chamber-pop chorus with Johnston crooning "Oh how I wish you were real." Tasteful string arrangements also complement Johnston´s melancholy vocals on "That´s Alright with Me," "In My Dream," and the gorgeous "Arriving on a Train," while "Radio for Heartache" strips the formula down to its essence, just Johnston and his ukulele. There´s also a pleasant, if not particularly revelatory, cover of the