Sometimes ill-fated relationships can linger years past their expirations. Not because denial is easy. But because goodbyes are hard. With Let The Little Things Go—the fifth and final LP under his Vending Machine moniker—suburban attic pop songsmith and multi-instrumentalist Robby Grant manages to say goodbye to his longtime pseudonym in just under 20 minutes. Not that Little Things is a breakup record. Or that Grant is severing ties to his signature rock/folk/electronica sound and angular (don’t say “quirky”) arrangements. Likewise, his Nilssonesque flair for turning profoundly simple observations into simply profound statements is on full display. But there’s an undeniable thread of restlessness this time. From the first haunting jangle of the opening track, “Ask You to Leave”, there’s a sense that something big is coming. Even radio ready moments like the string-tinged “In America” and the sunshiny “Move Away” (about a not-so-imaginary couple contemplating life in another city) take on a different tone given the underlying Dear John theme. In this context, it’s easy to hear Grant’s suggestion that “We’ll go somewhere where everyone’s a stranger/We could even change our names” as an artist bubbling with curiosity about the prospect of life outside his 15-year comfort zone. There are side trips too. Like the decidedly Vending Machine-y “Don’t Brag,” which lurches forward like a bear on a unicycle, outing the kind of water cooler narcissism that possesses people to boast about such formidable accomplishments as eating lunch. But the occasional detour isn’t enough to distract from the overall feeling of a guillotine being gradually raised. When the blade finally drops, Grant seems more relieved than grieved. In the end, his tightest and most accessible solo work to date isn’t so much a record about how hard it is to say goodbye, but how necessary.