By opening their second album with the brooding “Whatever You Want”, Something for Kate were sending a clear message that they were not the same unit that recorded their 1997 debut, Elsewhere For 8 Minutes. On a surface level, they’d had a change of personnel, with bass player Stephanie Ashworth replacing Toby Ralph. More subtle, though, was the fact that they’d left behind the post-rock attack of their debut in favour of a more restrained, atmospheric and gentle sound. That the opening track veered away lyrically from traditional rock territory—it features vocalist/guitarist Paul Dempsey singing about Galileo being called before the inquisition—didn’t do any harm, either. The foundations for the album were laid when Dempsey took a trip to Ireland to trace the roots of his immigrant father, who had died when Dempsey was an infant; early versions of “Slowdance” and the gorgeously restrained title track were written in a Dublin bar. Dempsey was also more open to collaboration than in the past, with Ashworth penning the descending bass line that became the foundation of “Anchorman”. The discordant “Electricity” proved the band weren’t completely done with distortion, but on Beautiful Sharks it’s well and truly relegated to a supporting role.