Moncton man releases album (oh and did we mention is an Rhodes scholar, and All-Canadian in track and field and an all-round nice guy?

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"The stench of stagnant beer and third world party atmosphere," is the line with which Moncton's Olivier Jarda leads off his first solo album, Diagrams, as drums kick in over an elegant guitar.

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The strangely poetic image is the match that ignites the torch carried by Jarda through the rest of the album as he paints a landscape that sprawls from the beaches of his parents' native Haiti to the shores of New Brunswick's nuclear energy plant at Point Lepreau.

For Jarda, who cut his teeth touring and recording with his former - read: on hiatus - band, the Turnstiles before skipping across the Atlantic Ocean to Oxford where he's polishing off his first year as a Rhodes scholar in international relations, it was important to start in with an "attention grabber."

"I just sort of pictured these Victorian, British people partying somewhere in the Caribbean, and I just thought that was a cool visual - just having these drunk Colonialists partying," he said over the phone from Oxford.

In a bid to lead into his first solo effort with a song that's representative of the album breadth, Jarda follows up the opening line with an allusion to the "mouths of Victorian faces that the wallpaper pattern traces."

"That song kind of goes all over the place. It's kind of a rant, and the rant is supposed to kind of transcend quite a long period of history," he said.

Jarda, who lived in Ontario and Saskatchewan before moving to Moncton at age 12, has made a habit of grabbing attention, albeit somewhat apologetically.

He laughs off media attention that has portrayed him as not only an academic standout and burgeoning rock star, but also an All-Canadian track and field athlete at Saint Mary's University who happened to walk on to Oxford's Varsity Men's Lacrosse Team despite the fact he had never before played Canada's unsung national sport.

"It says everywhere that I was an All-Canadian track star, but that only means that I got good grades and was on the track team. It's not the same as being All-American. I am a pretty average runner actually," he says, with a chuckle. "It's all about CVs (curriculums vitae) these days."

While Jarda is pleased with his first solo effort, which was recorded in Halifax by former Super Friendz guitarist Charles Austin just days before he left for England, he will be adding an EP, titled Ghost Fees, to his portfolio later this month.

Due to time constraints, Jarda, who played guitar, bass, banjo, and the kazoo on the album, and Turnstiles' mates Patrick Rody (drums), Peter Gorman (keys), were forced to work as quickly and as deliberately as thieves in the night as they recorded. The finished product offers a sound that's refreshingly natural.

"We worked very quickly which was a must because things were coming down to the wire and I was actually leaving the country," Jarda says.

"It's pretty basic and it's not overproduced. There are lots of mistakes on it but I didn't mind at all. It was nice to just spit it out," he says of the songs he had accumulated during his time with the Turnstiles.

Jarda will be touring Canada this summer in support of both releases after spending some weeks travelling around Europe and South Africa.

While in Oxford, he has bumped into actress Emma Watson and spotted Radiohead front man Thom York.

"I was thinking who is that shady little Thom York look-alike...oh wait a minute, that is Thom York."

Jarda expects more European influences to seep into his upcoming release of some of his newest material.

As for Maritime influences, you will not hear allusions to any of the typical iconography that finds its way into some Atlantic Canadian music. However, there are some lines which shine through with a particular glint of this part of the world.

For instance, on what may be considered Diagrams' catchiest song, Don't Wake the Baby, Jarda conjures up a rural escape when he sings "I'll take a tip from page seventy-six, I'll take a trip to the sticks."

"I am to some extent a product of my environment," he explains. "I have lived in New Brunswick since I was 12, so some of that's bound to creep up in the lyrics," he said. "I don't consciously do it. A lot of times what I'm writing will reflect what I'm living at the time." Jarda does call on his Haitian heritage and interest in international issues in several songs, particularly on the track Tropical Medicine.

While he's no stranger to achievement, Jarda has kept his goals modest in the music world - although he's gaining more and more attention on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and on the web.

"I guess the goal right now is to have a somewhat successful Canadian tour that comes close to breaking even. It's nice to hear that people like the album," he notes. "As far as popular success I really don't care, as long as I can play shows and people will come out...it's really nice to be able to keep on making music."

Diagrams is available at Frank's Music and Spin-It, as well as on HMV.ca and can be ordered at any HMV store. Check out Jarda's website, www.olivierjarda.com