In This Light and on This Evening

Tom Smith explained the band's change in direction by saying: "If we'd tried to make another more traditional guitar record, I don't think we'd have got through it... for our own sanity, we had to do something we hadn't done before."[5] He also revealed that the heavily synthesised and industrial feel of the album had evolved in a recording session that took place in 2008, before they settled on Flood as a producer.[5] Bassist Russell Leetch said the experience of working with Flood had been "the most fun we've ever had in a studio" and hinted that the band would be likely to work with him again.[5]

Smith's home city of London dominates the album, both lyrically and musically. He said: "'I actually think it's in every song. In the right time and place, in the right light and on the right evening, something you have seen 1,000 times before can still take your breath away whilst the background of electronic whirrs and hums that run under many of the tracks mimic the constant background noise of the city."[6]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Drowned in Sound	7/10[9]
The Guardian	[10]
The Independent	[11]
NME	5/10[12]
Observer Music Monthly	[13]
Pitchfork	3.7/10[14]
Slant Magazine	[15]
Spin	[16]
The Times	[17]

The album was met with mixed reviews. On the review aggregator site Metacritic, the album got a score of 59/100, indicating "mixed or average reviews", based on 25 reviews from mainstream critics.[7]

All tracks written by Edward Lay, Russell Leetch, Tom Smith, and Chris Urbanowicz.[18]

Personnel adapted from album liner notes.[18]

• Tom Smith, Chris Urbanowicz, Russell Leetch, Edward Lay – band members
• Flood – production
• Ben Hillier – mixing, production
• Tim Young – mastering
• Cenzo Townshend, Rob Kirwan – mixing
• Darren Lawson – mixing assistant
• Liliane Lijn – cover art design
• Tom Hingston Studio – design and art direction