Gordon Zacharias, the man behind Fan Modine, is clearly a devoted student of intelligent pop music, and with his fourth album, Gratitude for the Shipper, recorded after a six-year layoff from the studio, he's offered a graduate dissertation on the form that's as beautiful, compelling, and beautifully crafted as many of the acts that clearly inspired him. One can hear the shadows of Brian Wilson, Alex Chilton, John Lennon, and Michael Brown (among many others) in these 12 songs, but Gratitude for the Shipper doesn't sound especially derivative; Zacharias has learned from his influences rather than simply mimicking their effects, and the elegance of his melodies, the graceful strength of his piano work, and the subtle force of his vocals are satisfying in a way that matches anyone working in smart pop in the new millennium. Zacharias had the good fortune of working with one of his influences on these sessions; Chris Stamey of the dB's helped produce Gratitude for the Shipper, and along with the core ensemble of guitarists Ash Bowie and Chuck Johnson, bassist Jeremy Chatelain, and drummer Lee Waters, he's added string and wind arrangements that reinforce the melodies and add to the gravity of the music while never obscuring the dynamics of Zacharias and his bandmates. If this music has a flaw, it's the slightly cool emotional reserve that sometimes buffers its impact; Zacharias' vocal style bears a certain resemblance to that of his occasional collaborator Joe Pernice, but while Pernice can use the suede tone of his voice to express a wide range of moods, Zacharias doesn't manage quite the same trick. However, while Zacharias works with a more muted palette than some of his peers, he's capable of bringing an undertow of drama to the surface on songs like "Waiting for Distant Light" and "The Dream and the Dreamer" that suggests the man just knows when to pick his spots, and there's no arguing the beauty of this music. Fan Modine have been swimming beneath the surface of the pop underground for a decade and a half now, and with any luck Gratitude for the Shipper will earn Zacharias and his colleagues the wider recognition they clearly deserve; few pop albums of recent memory are as ambitious and pleasurable as this one.