Gomez "Whatever's On Your Mind"

I was a fan of these guys right out of the gate in '98, eventually owning four of the six studio releases prior to this album.  And I've decided to keep that number at four.  I heard the first single, "Options", and thought it sounded like Blur.  Not a bad introduction, just surprising.  But as I rounded into my third spin of "Whatever's On Your Mind", disappointment was on mine.  Gone was the edginess, the adventurousness, the experimental take on things.  Well, maybe not completely gone but certainly diminished.  If you enjoy light, puffy, pop music, then this dud's for you.  I jotted down a note about researching possible strife in the band alignment as my favorite of the three singers, Ben Ottewell, seemed less involved, and it's his voice that distinguishes Gomez for moi.  He's the lead singer on this new video for the title track, one of only two I will keep from this record... 

And I discovered that the members are based multiple time zones apart from each other.  So "let's all do our own songs separately, email them to each other, meet somewhere in the middle and see what sticks."  I know that's a SOP for some bands, and it's worked on many occasions, but not this one. 
One track is a dead-ringer for Barenaked Ladies.  That's not a bad thing, this coming from a BNL fan from Day 1, but I didn't expect it on a Gomez record.  I also heard a smidgen of Blue October (really looking forward to hearing their new record), but again, it's out of place here. 

I hope this doesn't signal the end of the run for Gomez.  I think I will investigate Ottewell's solo album that came out a few months ago.  I had no knowledge of such before now, and I wonder if I'll like it better...