This is definitely the thing that’s back, he always had such a knack for hooks, that there’d often be multiple in one song… then came the last album and the majority of it was so forgettable.
Still not sure yet if this is my cup of tea exactly, I think it’ll take me a while. I’m not generally a fan of prog-leaning stuff, and often feel ‘ambition’ in song lengths, concepts, multiple-part structures can end up hiding substance. But I am sure that I prefer it to the last record, and it’s a much more successful attempt at pivoting to a different sound than that was. I certainly like bits of the songwriting a lot.