Widespread Panic returns with another tasty helping of their distinctive Southern-fried jam, an album of road-tested tracks that most Spreadheads will be familiar with from the band’s 2005 tours. The band follows the Grateful Dead formula for success: relentless touring by a sextet comprised of two guitars, bass, keyboards, and two drummers. Technically Domingo Ortiz is a percussionist, but they have more soul and funk in their music. The band is still dealing with the loss of founder Michael Houser's death from pancreatic cancer back in August of 2002. They mourn their friend with heartfelt lyrics and come to terms with moving on as a band without him.

“Second Skin,” the opening track, is a song of rebirth and second chances. It opens with a quiet build-up of swirling electronic sounds on the keyboard and plucked guitar strings. A slow, thunderous drumbeat takes over before the guitar begins to swoop and soar and John Bell’s raspy vocals kick in. The Phuket Chamber Orchestra augments the band at times, adding a fullness and majesty. The song ends with a three-minute coda as the band gives way to the orchestra combined with the keyboard softly beating like a heart. The final minute is a hushed spacey riff reminiscent of Pink Floyd.

“Goodpeople” starts off as a slightly funky toe-tapper, but on the bridge The Compass Point Horns lead the way as a unit, bringing much-welcomed soul to the party. “From The Cradle” is a new track that got worked up in the studio. It opens with just Bell and an acoustic guitar lamenting life’s struggles before the band joins him. He sings about someone whose “been labeled/About as stable as a drunk on shaky ground.” One solution offered is “hangin' on to a solid rock/Made before the foundation of the world” from a cover of Dylan’s “Solid Rock” from Saved, the second of his Christian albums. After some good guitar work on the first bridge, John Hermann’s Hammond organ slowly takes over the song, leading the way home as expected on a gospelesque track.