Oh my God, this album is so good. It just begs for successive listens. At first I was slightly thrown by the number of mass culture references and allusions to modern technology - to say nothing of the (deliberately, I assume, based on the delivery) awful opening lines of "Mermaids" and lines similar to it, but it all fits together. The music is incredibly subtle, and I've never been happier to have Warren Ellis around, which is saying something.
It's a shame that I still can't get into Nocturama. I love the second half, for the most part, though, but it interrupts an incredible succession of albums. Let Love In, Murder Ballads, The Boatman's Call, and No More Shall We Part represent such a diverse set of styles, both musically and lyrically. And on the other side, Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!! and Push the Sky Away constitute what is, for me, the most incredible and sustained streak of late career home runs (and again, so diverse and distinctive). And then there are the Grinderman records.
Damn you, Nocturama.