i wouldn't say this is a light-hearted album. there's a lot of loss. above all, lost time and lost faiths and lost loves. things that haunt you. the melodies are definitely sweeter, and there is a lot about mending and second chance romantics, but this album says "wistful" to me more than anything. it is not a story album, but it's tighter around central concepts than i think anything she's done before. it's so grounded in that core feeling of wistfulness; despite heroes & thieves being a story of sorts, i think rabbits on the run will be her most cohesive album.
and i don't think this album is all that new or different in artistry. it's definitely more mature, but i find a lot of echoes of her older work - especially in "tall tales for spring" (which i ADORED as an title) and i just hear the shades of all the previous albums in the new songs - and she has mentioned getting back to demo tape days. i think the razor & tie press release mentioned rediscovering effervescence, which is a beautiful way to put it. not that she isn't growing as an artist, which she also always is, and i think organic is the right way to put it, too.
108 days!