Jason Reece explained in an interview that the band was going for a record consisting of many instrumental tracks. Several instrumentals were written, but ended up writing songs that "had a more personal lyrical bent", departing from the last album's very aggressive and political lyrics. As for the sound, it was inspired by Slave Ambient and Lost in the Dream, both records by The War on Drugs: "This layered Krautrock kind of vibe. We were thinking of Echo And The Bunnymen, Ocean Rain. These dense and bigger sounding albums. We were kind of into some 80’s music, Psychedelic Furs. Which is funny cause we’re not really a band that’s into the new wave sound, I don’t think we’ve ever made an 80’s sounding record. That’s kind of what we were jamming out to, the early 80’s sounds. Going for more of a Peter Gabriel thing, where you don’t use any cymbals, heavy toms and stuff like that were sort of the things we were kind of touching upon."[1]
Critical reception
This section needs expansion with: Summary of reviews. You can help by adding to it. (December 2014)
While the band may have struggled in the past to reconcile their post-hardcore roots with their art-rock ambitions*,* more often than not, "IX" marks the spot.[13]
For a band that started out in post-punk and somehow wandered into the feathery territory of art-rock, "IX" is a mediocre answer to a career’s worth of solid material. While not terrible, it is a far shot from all right, and an even farther shot from (some of) what they’ve put out in the past.[14]
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"The Doomsday Book"
3:32
2.
"Jaded Apostles"
4:05
3.
"A Million Random Digits"
3:08
4.
"The Lie Without a Liar"
3:22
5.
"The Ghost Within"
3:15
6.
"The Dragonfly Queen"
2:57
7.
"How to Avoid Huge Ships"
4:47
8.
"Bus Lines"
6:09
9.
"Lost in the Grand Scheme"
7:26
10.
"Like Summer Tempests Came His Tears"
3:42
11.
"Sound of the Silk"
5:18
Total length:
47:37
Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks
No.
Title
Length
12.
"Keep Warm Fire"
2:27
13.
"Feelings and How to Destroy Them"
3:30
Total length:
53:34
Bonus CD: Tao of the Dead Pt III EP
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Tao of the Dead Part III"
I. "Gods We Really Are"
II. "Once the War Was Fought"
III. "Time's Twisting Line"
IV. "Divisive Measures"
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