All these hints really make me think I'm going to love this album. Some of my favorite DT songs are on the longer side (Trial of Tears, Scarred, Learning to Live, Vacant/Stream of Consciousness, etc.), but lately their long songs seem to drag on for no reason other than to be long. Instead of dynamically developing a musical concept and adding depth, direction, mood, etc., they can get caught up in too much jamming that doesn't really have a place in the song and/or isn't really catchy.
I think the shorter tracks and focus on voice, mood, and narrative (as well as Campbell's presence) will help keep this album grounded, and more focused on melodies and symphonics. And the focus on acoustic instruments will create a diverse array of sounds. The one thing I still worry about is that when DT goes "soft," sometimes their ballads can sound sappy and a bit color-by-numbers. As much as I like This is the Life, Along for the Ride, I Walk Beside You, Hollow Years, Take Away my Pain and a few others, they can border on this category. I think back to the early days, and the more ballad-ish songs like Wait for Sleep, Surrounded, The Silent Man, Lifting Shadows, and Space Dye-Vest, the band managed to be soft but yet not cliché at the same time.