Mike Hat

So uh, I'm kind of in love with this album. Not disappointed at all.

This is just a preliminary ranking from the two times I've listened to this album, for the record.

1. Desks Dark (beautiful. This might be up there with Reckoner for me, but that could be the hype talking)
2. Identikit (I like the studio version better. The synths are a little odd, almost 8-bit sounding, but "Broken hearts make it rain" is heavenly)
3. The Numbers (I like this better than the live version Silent Spring Thom played at the climate change conference)
4. Daydreaming (this hit me a LOT harder the second time through than the first time through, or as a single for that matter)
5. True Love Waits (I'm not sure if I prefer the live version or this one. They're both quite fantastic)
6. Present Tense (Always liked this one. This version is about on par with the live version I think, maybe not QUITE as good)
7. Desert Island Disk (Got a nice groove to it. I could see this one going up in the future)
8. Ful Stop (I think I prefer the live version. I was expecting it to sound more like Myxomatosis, but it sounds more like Supercollider to me. Still great)
9. Tinker Tonker (pretty good, just not my favorite)
10. Glass Eyes (just a little too short to me)
11. Burn the Witch (love it but I don't think it fits the album. IMO they should've left this as a B-side and opened with Daydreaming. It'd be higher if I was going by purely how much I like the songs, but as a component of the album it's a little off-putting)

Does anybody else get the feeling this album might be about Thom's divorce? A lot of the lyrics sound like they could be about infidelity and separation from a loved one...

Still too early for me to say where this will end up in my rankings for the albums. Right now I'd definitely put it in the top half, but who knows. It might go up or down as time goes on.