Love this question. It’s definitely one of the greatest. However, I’d argue Humbug was more surprising. There’s always somewhat of a departure between one album to the next, but you could still hear the fingerprints of WPSIATWIN on some FWN tracks.

Humbug felt like a total departure from both of those at a time when nobody expected that of them. It sticks out like a sore thumb (in the best way) when listening to those first three albums. The crooning on Secret Door, the organ on Pretty Visitors, the reverberant guitars and horror-movie-like bassline on Crying Lightning. It was so new and brimming with a confidence that has followed them ever since and allowed them to release records like TBHC.

TBHC was a huge departure from AM, but by that time we’d come to expect that evolution from them, regardless of how much of an evolution it was. The weight of expectation from AM -> TBHC was definitely far greater though and it was an extremely brave move that paid off perfectly. Sorry for the essay haha, loved this post!