Had a couple of listens though now, really impressed, It's quie similar to Mansun in the way that it's a very eclectic mix of influences, it's a bit more restrained than Six, for example, in that it sticks with a style all the way though the track.
The immediate standouts for me are:
Grey House - as mentioned upthread, it tips it hat to Bowie. Multiple guitar layers and wibbling synth sound effects. A very claustrophobic feel wihch suits the lyrics
You Don't Really Know Someone Til You Fall Out With Them - swirling Vox Continental organ driven track, it has an almost 'Wish You Were Here'-era Floyd feel to it.
Jealousy Is A Powerful Emotion - gorgeous shimmering layered synths and Vangelis-like arpeggios
Thematically, it does seem to describe his split from Chad and the rest of the band which is understandable, as a lot of the songs originated from the time of the split), but on the film on the bonus DVD he says it's reflecting what happened to him over the whole 10-years between Kleptomania and when he started the sessions for this album in 2014.
The 3-disc art book it a lovely bit of kit. It comes in a nicely-made 10" hardback book with expanded versions of the album artwork. The extras CD is made up of alternate takes, work in progress versions and early demos of the tracks on the album (including the initial version of Feeling My Heart Run Slow that was completed for the Mansun convention and some of his dictaphone demos from the post-Kleptomania era). I haven't got a 5.1 soundsystem so I can't say much about the mix on the DVD, but the 20-minute film of the making of the album is very interesting.
I hope it's a success and he decides to carry on - from the footage on the DVD he's built up a tight band unit to work with (though he does admit he finds it much easier and more interesting to write and produce for other people nowadays). It just makes me wish I hadn't missed out on getting a ticket for one of the concerts now.
