Some Cities

After The Last Broadcast the band wanted a rawer, more stripped-down sound. They first tried working with William Orbit, but Goodwin said it did not work. They co-produced the album with Ben Hillier instead. Much of it was recorded at a farmhouse in the English countryside during 2004, while the closing track "Ambition" was recorded in an empty Benedictine monastery in Scotland, using the main hall for a huge reverb. Andy Williams told Pitchfork they spent six weeks at Loch Ness and a month in Liverpool, and that they recorded about 30 songs.

The lyrics dwell on change, with old buildings ripped down and replaced by more generic ones. Jez Williams said the band had also listened to a lot of Motown and Northern soul. Guy Garvey of Elbow sings backing vocals on "Almost Forgot Myself" and "Snowden". The album went straight to number one in the UK, and the singles were "Black and White Town" (6), "Snowden" (17) and "Sky Starts Falling" (45). The Guardian described it as a love letter to Manchester. Pitchfork's 2010 retrospective said the album lacked the juice of its predecessors.