Yeah, from one listen, it doesn't sound like she was really pushing herself into new territory. That said, it felt like it resembled her debut more than Ceremonials, which I like, as Lungs was incredible.
That's good to hear. I haven't dug the singles I've heard so far, but I prefer Lungs over Ceremonials.
Ship to Wreck grew on me. What Kind of Man is the worst song on the album, and strikes me as being like Kiss With A Fist - doesn't fit tonally or stylistically on the album much at all, but is a catchy enough song that she probably felt she had to include it (or was forced to?). Like Kiss With A Fist, which I took out of the album after a few listens, I'm probably going to do that with What Kind of Man.
The entire album has grown on me a lot though, I'm really enjoying it now. It's like Lungs, but taken in a quite intimate, personal direction. Two or three reviews I've read referred to the difference in the cover - whereas on the last two albums, she's turned to the side with her eyes closed, on this one, she's staring straight at you. There's a good variety in the songs, a few songs that are more quiet and stripped back than anything she's done before. Other than What Kind of Man, every track is great, though it could have used a stronger closer than Mother.
She's toned down the explicitly dark, baroque, goth aspect of her music too, it's much more subdued this time. Which I'd say she did because she explored it so thoroughly on Ceremonials. In retrospect, I think that's why that album didn't completely work for me, something I haven't been able to put my finger on until recently. I feel like she took that morbidity of her style and really ran with it. Most of the songs were still really good, but taken as a whole, the album ended up quite overwhelming and... exhausting?
Is that the version that has Swimming on the second disc? That is a fucking amazing song and I'm at a loss as to why it wasn't included on the album.
Yeah, Swimming and Heavy In Your Arms were the strongest B sides, though they were all pretty good. I will stand by my statement from when Ceremonials came out that Remain Nameless and Strangeness and Charm, and maybe also Bedroom Hymns, are better than anything on the album itself