Veering away from the signature animal themes of its three predecessors, THE STICKS album artwork quite simply and effectively encapsulates the darker subject matter of the records sonic offerings. Of course any Mother Mother album could not be fully realized without the accompaniment of a striking visual interpretation by Mother Mothers resident artist Molly Guldemond. 'To The Wild', a steady and mesmerizing song hauntingly carried by Molly Guldemond in her unique, airy voice, is the perfect closer to an intense and dynamic journey, distilling the record's theme in a few simple words: 'Take off your cage, and go back to the wild'. In a similar vein is 'Waiting For The World To End', the album's penultimate track, told from an indifferent and impatient onlooker of the impending apocalypse. The Beatles-esque number Latter Days is a playful anthem for the hermitic and reclusive while 'Little Pistol', a paranoidal suicide ballad, is one of the most dramatic and dynamic songs on the album laden with lilting strings, bass clarinet and a stunning vocal arrangement. The albums lead off single 'Lets Fall In Love', an ironic homage to tunesmith Cole Porter, is a moody yet epic song about the foolhardy games we play in the arena of romance: 'Stupid does it, ugly do it Let's fall in love'. This brief and dichotomous lullaby sets up the album's ominous title track perfectly, like a calm before the storm.

THE STICKS starts off with opening track 'Omen', that begins with a sweet and haunting piano motif followed by the innocent timbre of a five-year-old lad singing alongside Ryan, 'something about the world today makes a boy feel a bit insane.

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