"Breaker" glows into a warm, Beach Boys-esque chorus, recalling washed-out bedroom pop of the 60s. "Duplex Planet" skitters into a keyboard-drenched epiphany. "Take Care" totally spaces out, its building intricacies seemingly so effortless, demonstrating the band's inherent feel for polished, liquid psyche-rock. "Snakeskin" slithers into weird 70s funk and sounds unmistakably like a band in full command of their considerable range.
Cox was seriously injured in a car crash in December 2014, and this is his first record since the accident, which he claims "provided a perspective giving jolt" and "erased all illusions." There is a sense of urgency throughout the record, and a new wide-screen perspective is best heard on "Living My Life," one of the year's best tracks. The music swells with sonic optimism as dark skies barrel in:
I'm off the grid, I'm out of range
And the amber waves of grain are turning grey again
The darkened stage and the infinite waves
Distance can change fate
I'm out of range again.
While hoping to keep the darkness at bay through detached distance, Cox finally asks the pressing question on his mind: Will you tell me when you find out how to conquer all this fear? / I've been spending too much time out on the fading frontier. Cox seems to answer by clinging to the only mantra that will get him through: I'm living my life, I'm living my life. When the storm is raging, isn't that all we can really do?
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