"The Ultimate Seaside Companion" (52:06)
1. The Fortune (3:51)
- instrumental, poppy structure with basic light drums, piano fills, clean guitar, bass and keyboard set-up ... beautiful.
2. Mississippi Palisades (3:02)
- lush pop song, playful clean guitar and bouncy bass push the song along wonderfully as Chris sings fairly mid-pitched throughout. Bells, keyboards, light playful drumwork, handclaps, lush ... perfect pop. "To the caves of South Dakota, we do retreat" ...
3. My East is Your West (4:17)
- similiar to track 2 but slower and not as bouncy and playful. Mostly acoustic and a little electric guitar, solid bass lines, light drums, harmonica solo ... also quite lush. "When you open your eyes ... to me!"
4. Stray (1:28)
- piano and Chris singing acapello style ... reminds me of a cross between "Last of Joy" and the Wire song he covered a while back. There's also very light sounds of birds and water in the background if you listen closely. "What will the north bring you next?"
5. Empty Sam (4:17)
- acoustic song, no drums. Kind of bluesy sounding, no make that very bluesy, with a steady A based riff throughout. Chris' voice goes through quite a range here ... there's a lot of "aaaahhhs" and "ooooohhhhs" ... lovely. "Truth will bleed you dry"
6. No More Changing of the Guard (5:02)
- keyboard and Chris' voice through a bizarre delay / reverb effect (very reminiscent of Bowie ...). This one initially dissapointed me because I've heard Chris do this song at solo gigs and it's so beautiful at that faster pace with acoustic guitar. It's grown on me quite abit over the months. "To collapse ... or just die innocent, or stay alive for awhile"
7. Island Head (6:35)
- upbeat and uplifting: choppy keyboard and acoustic guitar complimented by soaring voice, drums and mellow electric guitar weaving in and out of the breaks and I think I hear a little horn of some type. Repetitive but not annoying. "Your chaos ... swimming back a mile or two"
8. Toledo Steel (2:09)
- acoustic guitar, banjo, the voice and a little whistle to wrap it up. Spooky, slow, short song. "I see you through the steam"
9. Caravan (5:06)
- very upbeat, probably the most upbeat but still not heavy like say "Drench" or "What's Left but Solid Gold". Acoustic guitar, upbeat drums, bouncy bass, distorted solos from some sort of electric instrument, Chris singing in a range of voices, but the voice is not as prominent in the mix as the other songs. "further than the caravan can reach"
10. To Play a Slow Game (5:41)
- acoustic guitar and programmed drums (the same as used on "Model Murmur") with Chris singing mid-ranged, several long drawn out words sung beautifully. "don't even cross the game so slow ..."
11. The Ultimate Seaside Companion (6:49)
- dark and moody yet upbeat. Acoustic guitar, bouncy bass, light drums and Chris' voice floating over the lush backdrop, harmonica solos and something doing distorted fills. "these moments of mine don't come easy"
12. The Fortune II (3:49)
- continues where track 1 left off, same as track 1 but with lyrics. I really love this song, it moves along so beautifully. "tools we would use ... for bringing back time"