With the heavy lifting of the reunion out of the way, is able to settle into comfortable craft on , the band's sixth album. isn't as self-consciously weighty as -- is not tackling mortality in the wake of the death of his longtime friend and bandmate -- but it's also not as hazy as s pair of solo LPs. In tone and timbre, it's closest to the second album, the ruminative , but it lacks the reflective undertow of that 2004 album; it may be subdued, but it's not reveling in its melancholy, it's riding a gentle wave, swaying from song to song. Sometimes the tempo gets slightly heated -- works a nicely grinding guitar riff, pulsates to an electronic rhythm -- but the album doesn't command attention so much as it teases it. This light touch suits s songs; he's favoring subtle craftsmanship over immediate hooks, so it only fits that the mood of is soothing, something that pays off great dividends upon close listens. It may not be flashy but it's sturdy and expertly honed, reflecting 's craftsmanship on a song-by-song basis but holding together better as an album than any project in recent memory. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine