Songwriter and frontman David Debiak formed Sleep Station in North Jersey in 2000. Four studio albums and one EP between 2001-2008 were followed by 12 years of radio silence.
This hiatus is now broken with a record that is billed as political but in which any hints are protest are well concealed beneath a gentle pop facade.
There's a the hymnal quality to the string-laden opening track I've been Blind Enough To See in which Debiak reassures us "I may be lost but I'll be fine". The album's first single Leads Back Home is like a road song for safe drivers.
The eleven songs are mainly about building dreams and fighting demons. These are universal themes that will never go out of fashion but the words need to be imbued with more grit if they are to hit the mark.
While the melodic tunes glide along pleasantly enough, the band merely come across like an easy-listening version of REM.