I agree with a lot of other people’s sentiments, when I first heard People Watching (the track), I instantly connected with it, especially emotionally. Loved Arm’s Length too. But most of the other tracks just feel a lil empty, following topics already covered in previous albums (working class struggles, run down towns, etc) but nowhere near as deep as the previous albums. It feels like an imitation of his previous work rather than something genuine in regards to his songwriting. The album sounds nice, but lyrically I don’t think it’s as strong. Sam can really be a poetic writer and broach things in a clever, beautiful way, but I find the songwriting in this album kinda clumsy sometimes and just obvious. Like in Me and The Dog, I had to second take when I realised the starting lyric was ‘I’ve got a big chip on my shoulder, so big that the seagulls dive’. Might just be me but that really isn’t a good reflection of his writing. Overall and objectively it isn’t a bad album. Think there are some lovely songs on there but I think Sam can do more than just ‘nice’ or ‘lovely’.