This reminds me of the jump in confidence from albums 1 and 2 by Something For Kate - both had the 'hit single' from their debut, but then went away and rethought the situation. After a good look in the room of mirrors they also both came back with a darker (more mature?) sound that focuses on the songwriting rather than the noise - not afraid of the less guitars = more boredom possibility. So to the songwriting: recurring themes of the ocean and drowning, sleeping and dreaming and flying (read: escape).
The numbers game - songs No 2, 4 and 11 are all hits in waiting - in fact, much like the repetition in the lyrics would be pleased in my relaying, the deeper you sink into this album, the better it gets. Whether you describe it as a reworking of classic 80s rock ('Older Than You' is a beautiful Mondo Rock cover version in all but name!) or classic pop / rock, all you need to know is that (Dan Kelly aside) this is the best australian release so far this year.
Oh yeah - songwords. Here's my top 5 in order
1. "I don't care what the future holds, all I know is that I'm gettin old"
2. "See the people on the street, hear the sound of defeat"
3. "There's some things that you can't afford but they'll cost you anyway"
4. "There's just no oxygen, why can't we just fall in the sea"
5. "Did you hear me scream while you watched me sleep".
Not only does that show how miserable I am but what's going on in their heads...
And while you're burning yourself a copy :) make sure you listen to the 9 hidden live acoustic tracks only accesible via your computer...

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. COME DOWN
2. FROM THE SEA
3. LIFE IS BETTER WITH YOU
4. OLDER THAN YOU
5. A SONG IS A CITY
6. DON'T LET IT FLY
7. IM SO TIRED
8. SEVEN VEILS
9. SMOKE
10. CAROUSEL
11. THIS ROOM
12. CAR CRASH
13. IM SO TIRED - LIVE
14. COME DOWN - LIVE
15. LIFE IS BETTER WITH YOU - LIVE
16. A SONG IS A CITY - LIVE
17. OLDER THAN YOU - LIVE
18. CAR CRASH - LIVE
19. SEVEN VEILS - LIVE
20. FROM THE SEA - LIVE
21. THIS ROOM - LIVE