seatakers

Well-articulated. You've captured many of my own thoughts on the album. I agree that lyrics are perhaps the weakest element of the album. At the end of the day, I can't shake the effect this work has had on me emotionally. It is as if I've had the opportunity to reconnect with a younger me. Songs like Church, Everyday Life, Champion of the World, and Trouble in Town feel like they were ripped right from the pages of the early 2000s - yet somehow they work in 2019. Though there are bigger numbers intended for stadiums, this album has a more generally intimate nature and it is breathtaking at times. I suppose Ghost Stories had a similar makeup (and I like much of that album as well), yet this one resonated more deeply with me. Absolutely love the nearly ubiquitous strings throughout. For me, this is an 8/10.

Well, this is super fun. I truly enjoy this band and it's wonderful to have found a place to come and talk about it with folks of similar enthusiasm. With 3.25 songs now released ahead of the new album, I can confidently say I am excited for Everyday Life.

Haha, was about to say the same.

The band has evolved in style, instrumentation, lyrical content, and intended audience (particularly in scope). No question. I am and have been for a while, personally intrigued by how much of a factor our own personal and cultural evolution plays in our perception of a band. Who has truly changed more, the band, or me? The band, or the world they are trying to connect with? I am astonished that twenty years down the road I can still be stirred by new material from a band that captivated me when I was much younger. More incredibly, that same band's new material has connected with people who were not alive when Clocks first moved me to tears. I suppose this is me saying I am a bit of an Allplayer with a sentimental leaning toward the Oldplay who captivated me in my formative years. And yet, somehow "Everyday Life" might be my favorite song they've ever written.