First impression: solid album, doesn't quite have the diversity or density of Romance Is Boring. Having said that, I thought it got off to a much better start; I'd take the opening three tracks here over the previous album's counterparts (I really love when the title track kicks in).
Is Aleks missed? Yes, and it seemed like Kim was being kept in the background, but then The Black Bird, The Dark Slope features her prominently. Her voice is not as alluring as Aleks', but after a decent verse she begins another part in a higher register that sounds double-tracked and is really, really good. This low/high thing is repeated again before the end of the song, which is definitely a stand-out on the album
Second half other than that didn't really knock my socks off, though Baby I Got The Death Rattle was great. The biggest letdown of the album was the closing track Dark Leaves, Dark Sees Pt. II, which really crawled and never went anywhere. Part I of this song, from the Heat Rash EP, was a lot better.
Overall this reminds me of We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, which also had a killer opening, but didn't satisfy overall on the same level as the album before it, coming off a bit slight to the LP before it. And WABWAD didn't finish strong, either. Of course, that album had the title track, Miserabilia, Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1, which may all be better than anything on here. But I'd say that Hello Sadness is a bit more consistent.