Noonan’s lyrics were once again a talking point of the new record. Members of the band had recently begun families while at the same time seeing friends losing their own parents, a theme touched upon in "Built To Last", "Nightwatchmen" and "74 swans". Songs like "Sugar High" as well as the very album title itself, meanwhile, saw Noonan reflect on the perversities and injustices of the harsh economic downturn that had recently hit Ireland. In his four-star review in the "Irish Independent", John Meagher praised Bell X1 for being one of the few bands to lyrically tackle the "turbulent, uncertain times".