' first album since 2019's -- his Billboard dance-charting second album as -- was born of a period that not only included the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic but a family cancer diagnosis. Giving rise to depression, these experiences made him think differently about collaboration, and whereas his first two albums were self-produced, found working with producers/mixers ( , ) and ) as well as longtime drummer . While some of the lyrics reflect a melancholy state of mind, the lush, giddy textures the project is known for persist, a fact made evident on opening track "Must Be True," which kicks things off with a (gentle) needle drop and swaying arpeggiated piano. The song's soft landing is accompanied by ' trademark clement, multi-tracked vocals as they deliver self-conscious lines like "I'm not supposed to be someone like me/I shouldn't have mentioned I'm sorry," as part of a spaceflight analogy. Its slow build adds layered melodic guitar and keyboard hooks, echoing clap-like samples and mallet percussion, and still more keyboard voices before thudding drums finally join the growing expanse around the midway point. While that song acts as a intro of sorts, he soon gets a dance party going with "Right Thing," even if it's a restrained, midtempo one with continued themes of self-doubt. Later, songs like the anthemic "Words" bring enlivened, serpentine basslines into play as well as layers of echo that seem to bounce off the auditorium ceiling and walls. Here, even a song called "Solo" is a soaring one, with string-like synth tones, galloping drums, shimmery guitar jangle, and multiple vocal lines in play. Closer "Tabitha" is the closest thing to an '80s soft-rock entry on the album but is still uniquely in its sonic scope, leaving listeners with the feeling of having experienced something both intimate and spatially vast. ~ Marcy Donelson