Willy Vlautin, leader of the Portland, Ore., alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, sketches musical short stories about lost souls floating from place to place, awash in alcohol and afflicted with a bone-deep depression. The songs on The Fitzgerald are full of sleepless nights and random violence, alleviated only by the fleeting, golden moments when a pair of these desolate drifters find solace in one another's arms. Willy's hushed, intimate vocals and Richmond Fontaine's subtle acoustic-based accompaniment prove perfectly appropriate for a suite of songs that demands to be heard in stillness, and rewards such careful attention.