Following the tour for , parted ways with and , leaving her free to expand her music from the bluesy that dominated 's first two albums. It also left her free to experiment with her style of songwriting. Where seemed brutally honest, feels theatrical, with each song representing a grand gesture. Relying heavily on religious metaphors and imagery borrowed from the has written a set of songs that are lyrically reminiscent of 's and ' literary excursions into the gothic American heartland. Since she was a product of , she's nowhere near as literally bluesy as or , preferring to embellish her songs with shards of avant guitar, eerie keyboards, and a dense, detailed production. It's a far cry from the primitive guitars of her first two albums, but pulls it off with style, since her songwriting is tighter and more melodic than before; the menacing has genuine hooks, as does the psycho stomp of the wailing and the stately The clear production by , and makes these growths evident, which in turn makes her most accessible album, even if the album lacks the indelible force of its predecessors. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine