progression, keyboard ostinatos, ringing guitar, resounding reverb, slight bass grooves, and programmed beats. Sim plays counterpoint melodies on his bass, while Croft plays angular figures, sketchy musical patterns, and melodies developed from two-note intervals; Price likens Croft's use of the guitar to playing a harp. Smith's production is largely responsible for the music's lowest frequency sounds and incorporates both four on the floor and 2-step beats, subtle BPM changes, heartbeat-like drum machine rhythms, strings, and live percussion such as timpani, snare drums, and steelpans. The latter instrument is played in arpeggio and exhibits Jamaican music influences. Critic Will Hermes views Smith as a more prominent contributor on Coexist than on the debut album and comments that "the beats and musical backdrops are more varied and command more attention." The songs are also spatially arranged and experiment with tension, including listeners' expectations for a hook to unfold, a dance beat to develop, and a time signature to change. Elements such as drum beats, vocals, and guitar motifs fade to silence throughout the songs. Kitty Empire of The Observer comments that "no pattern here hangs around for more than a couple of bars, and rarely in multiples of four." Stephen Thompson of NPR comments on the music's lack of dynamism, writing that the band "lets its songs billow out softly and quietly, with only achingly pretty guitar lines to lessen the tension." Michael Hann of The Guardian writes that the album refines the band's "already skeletal frame" and that most of its songs are "defined as much by space as by sound", adding that the music's "gaps bring greater emphasis" to guitar, piano, and vocal elements. Melissa Locker of Time comments that "each sound, be it instrument or voice, is given ample room to exist and to soar." Lyrics and themes Coexist deals with themes of heartbreak, loneliness, and intimacy. Croft and Sim share lead vocals, which occasionally overlap in call and response interplay and slow crescendos. Sim, who cites Sade as an influence, has more assured vocals, while Croft sings in a shyer style and exhibits catches in her voice. The lyrics focus on a failing relationship and changes in a romance. Will Ryan of Beats Per Minute writes that they follow "the back-and-forth complexities of a fractured relationship that ... explores a wilderness of residual feelings left over after said relationship has collapsed." Garry Mulholland of Uncut interprets the album