This CD of songs, grittily arranged and produced is noticeably more straight-ahead than ReR's usual releases though it sits comfortably within the broad range of Steve's tirelessly experimental output. This is a project with a long history: Steve and his main collaborator Todd Dadaleares have been writing, recording and performing together for longer than MeRCy's 20+ year existence and David Fields (drums) and Tim Inman (keyboards) are also long servers. New, for this phase of recordings and concerts, is 5-string bassist Greg Goodwin who steps into Mark Dickey's, shoes. MacLean scores the music, in scary detail, and Dadaleares supplies the words. This is America, so they all have day jobs: MacLean as professor of music technology and performance at Berklee, Dadaleares in health robotics, Inman as a computer consultant and Fields in industrial art. The band has been through many stages over the last double-decade, and has made four previous albums. This is the first through ReR.