Searching for a Former Clarity is the third album by the Gainesville, Florida punk rock band Against Me!, produced by J. Robbins and released on September 6, 2005, by Fat Wreck Chords. Supported by singles and music videos for the songs "Don't Lose Touch" and "From Her Lips to God's Ears (The Energizer)", it was their first album to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching #114. It also reached #9 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Singer/guitarist Laura Jane Grace has described Searching for a Former Clarity as a concept album. Composition Searching for a Former Clarity is a punk rock album that incorporates elements of folk, dance-punk, post-punk, dub, and country. Commercial performance Searching For a Former Clarity reached #114 on the Billboard 200. As of 2007, the album has sold 52,000 copies. Critical reception Reaction to Searching for a Former Clarity was generally positive, with critics praising Grace's lyrics and the band's effective combination of different musical elements. Corey Apar of Allmusic gave the album four and a half stars out of five, calling it the band's "most introspective album to date. In both subject matter and song composition, they expand upon elements of previous releases without being afraid to veer away from expectations". Though describing the tone of the album as "more sober and resentful" in comparison to their previous efforts, he remarked that "the passion, energy, and urgency Against Me! is known for is no less present. Instead, Searching for a Former Clarity is a more developed effort that is not only one of the best punk releases of 2005, but further establishes the band's growing importance within the punk scene." Aubin Paul of Punknews.org also praised the album, giving it four out of five stars and stating that "Unlike the simple shout-along melodies that adorned previous albums, ...Clarity demands repeated listens far more than any previous album." He praised the band's ability to effectively combine punk rock, country, and folk music, noting that "with Clarity it seems the band has finally managed to fuse these elements seamlessly in a single track." He noted that the lyrics were more personal and "painfully confessional" than on the band's previous efforts, and that the political motifs were more individualistic, focusing on "the effects of politics on real people." He summarized the album as "ambitious, fully realized and truly special. It's also a conflicted record; it's filled with internal