This third album finds The Books delving deeper into the world of song. Not that this is a traditional singer/songwriter record by any means, but it is a different animal than their giddy, sample-driven debut, Thought for Food. The Books‘ Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong no longer serve their samples sliced and diced en masse; instead, they employ them more sparingly, using snippets of eccentric dialogue and field recordings as lyrical and rhythmic fodder for their often ingenious and painstakingly crafted songs. The result is less overtly scintillating, but offers its own uniquely melancholic pleasures.