Just listened to my digipack all the way through for the first time. I tried not to listen too much to the streams this time. Dunno if that affected things, but here's my favorites:
1. The Glorious Land, yes even with the bugle.
2. England.
3. All and Everyone
4. On Battleship Hill
5. Bitter Branchs
6. In The Dark Places
7. Written on the Forehead
I'm sure the live versions will be incredible for all the tracks, but the studio versions of these stood out. I can't get over the change in her voice. It's high like White Chalk, but this time with laser-like precision. She's not straining
at all now to hit those high notes. Just listen to Battleship Hill. Jeez, did she go through a year of intensive vocal coaching or was there surgery involved or?

Her voice is just gorgeous.
Yep, the melodies are all upbeat, even pretty sounding. I'm sure she meant that to contrast with the lyrics, which are anything but.
I don't think anyone has mentioned the end notes yet. They're pretty descriptive about where things came from. This is new to me: The Glorious Land is based on the old Police song "The Bed's Too Big Without You":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stlKHh_f0-0Oh yeah, The Big Guns Called Me Back Again should've been on the album.