their heads, and that American Demo had been compromised through being produced under the constraints of a label. Julia said that Songs for Swinging Lovers was a more personal album, citing "Savages" in particular. Writing for PopMatters, Maria Schurr said of the album's style that while it represented a continuation of American Demos "lyrical attacks on society coated over with giddy indie pop hooks" Songs for Swinging Lovers "has been infused with a swish of cabaret." She later said that it sounded like "[a] collaboration between The Mekons, The Wedding Present, Carter USM, and Luke Haines, with a song co-written by Jacques Brel following a really awesome séance". Schurr said that the album was "dazzlingly close to perfection" and though its first half was its strongest, the second was "more convincing of the Indelicates' greatness than ten years' worth of 'Next Big Thing' issues of NME". In Digital Spy Mayer Nissim wrote that Songs for Swinging Lovers lacked "a bit of the coherence and gloss 'n' polish" of American Demo, but that it was "an assured, aggressive follow-up". He said that, as with their debut, "The Indelicates' trick is to suck you in with hooks that have you either dancing or swooning before the lyrics smash you in the chops." Nissim singled out "Roses" as the album's standout and "Sympathy for the Devil" as an "odd misstep", concluding that while the Indelicates were doing nothing new musically, Songs for Swinging Lovers showed "that it really is what you do with it that counts". The album was also praised by Neil Gaiman, and in Germany's Intro magazine, Jack Black singled out Julia's voice especially for praise, saying, "I love her." In 2018, The Quietus ranked Songs for Swinging Lovers at #72 on its writers' poll list of "The Top 100 Albums of the Quietus' Existence" (2008–2018), calling it a "pop masterpiece". In the absence of traditional chart tracking for the album, the band said the measure of success for Songs for Swinging Lovers would be "if we're financially solvent ... success is basically not having to stop". Just over a year later, the band reported that it had sold well enough to fund the recording and release of their next album. Digital rights campaigning In early 2010 the Indelicates became outspoken critics of the controversial Digital Economy Act 2010, which allowed the blocking of sites used or even likely to be