It may be an overstatement to suggest that Escapology gives us Brit singer-songwriter Robbie Williams in his pensive phase. But there's no doubt that the tone of the album is less mercurial and irreverent than the Williams of old. That's not a bad thing--the anti-celebrity sentiments expressed in "Monsoon" are commendable for their frankness. When Williams sings, "I'm here to make money and get laid/ Yeah, I'm a star but I'll fade," you get the sense he's been doing more in L.A. than chasing tail around the Standard Hotel. Williams is positively pessimistic in the should-we-or-shouldn't-we-break-up song "Sexed Up" and the heavy hearted "Love Somebody." The winding, storybook saga of "Me and My Monkey"--with its myriad pop culture references and dreamscape imagery--cries out for video treatment, as directed by Gus Van Sant. Elsewhere, the cheekiness of old appears in the L.A. anthem "Hot Fudge." Still, even when he's lyrically downcast