I suppose I'm only mildly disappointed. It would have been great if the new versions simply blew the old ones out of the water. And they don't. But that's as much a testimony to the fact that BA's songs tend to start out pretty excellent. That Justin and Christian are willing and able to rework them so thoroughly is testimony to their ambition and skill. But I'm always left missing the earlier versions a bit.

It'll take many more listens for me to figure out which of these versions I ultimately prefer to the old ones. Oddly the biggest disappointment for me was "Middle Management." Of all the songs on the album, "Middle Management" was the most energetic and straightforward in its demo (or EP) version. I felt that the slightly fussy production style of The Broken String served it least well. It simply lacks the drive and momentum of the terrific demo (which I unfortunately only have in a dreadful mp3).

As for the other songs:

I quite like the verses of "The Monitor"; the choruses, however, end up sounding a bit overwhelmed and strained by the production IMO (even the vocal in the chorus is somehow unconvincing).

I really like "Rain" (though I don't know the demo of this one at all).

"Click, Click, Click, Click," which I otherwise know in the "July" version (I have never heard the apparently harder rocking Clementines demo) is similarly great, though the differences with the EP version are fairly subtle...the overall approach is very similar.

"The Chinatown Bus," in contrast, feels very different from the "May" version, but it emerges as an excellent song in its own right (though the outro is a little busy).

"Flight 180," like "Click, Click, Click, Click," sounds like an enhanced version of the song as it appeared on the EP. I think it works very well...I can easily imagine eventually preferring this new version. However, I should add that "Flight 180" in its original version was a song for which I felt more admiration than emotional connection. Once again, my biggest problems are with the outro, which like "Chinatown Bus"'s feels busy (in this case the drumming is the culprit).

"Like Castanets" is a total improvement from the version on "September." I always felt this song was missing something. It somehow didn't communicate the emotions that were apparent in the lyrics. Whatever it was missing, it has it now.

"Butterfly Nets": Another song substantially similar, only bigger. Works fine for me, though for the moment I still prefer the simpler approach of "May."

"Shrinking Violet": Another very simple song made more complex. Here the change in tone, while still subtle, is greater than on "Butterfly Nets" and I'm not at all sure I like it (the slightly dissonant piano noodling doesn't really work).

"Corazon": Very different approach...but interesting! Maybe it's just that I've listened to this one so many times in its (admittedly excellent) "January" version that I was ready for something new. Here the complexities of the production feel more coherent than on some of the other numbers on the album. They really serve the song. The result is something very different. I'm not at all sure it's an improvement, but it's very good.

"Choose Again": A totally new song to me. I'll need to hear it a few more times to develop a clear feeling about it.

"News From Your Bed": Like many other numbers on the album, the approach is very similar to the EP, but larger: winds, doubling on the vocals, handclaps, more percussion. It's fine, but after a couple listens, the additions still feel a little unnecessary.

As for where the style of this album came from...at their most recent Norman, OK concert, Justin mentioned that they had spent a couple weeks here recording numbers for the album with members of The Starlight Mints. Anyone who knows The Mints (who I also love) knows that they're all about big, layered sounds. The Broken String sounds nothing like a Mints album, but there's certainly a dash of mint in it.