It's dark and brooding, and while it was informed and inspired by Hurricane Katrina and government's failure to help the people of Scott's hometown, that's no excuse for the plodding dullness and striking lack of imagination that pervade Anthem".

The textures are big: fat rock drums, crunching guitars, spacious piano sound, and a Miles Davis-tinged middle register trumpet that crackles with jazz but seems equally likely to brood like a good indie-rocker should.

There is also a final reprise of the title track that is given a spoken word overlay that brings home the music's political themes on a hip-hop tip.

[15] Paul Sullivan of BBC wrote "Written in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans – Scott's former hometown – Anthem is a dark, sometimes despairing document that meditates on the disaster as well as charting changes in the musician's burgeoning career and personal life.

The beguiling mix of despondency and hope that ooze from opening track Litany Against Fear – think ringing electric guitars, sprawling post-rock rhythms and pounding piano creating an apocalyptic soundscape over which Scott writes plaintive messages in the air – act as a signpost for the rest of the album".