Last month was the much-anticipated release of The Glass Passenger, the sophomore album of Jack’s Mannequin. With the success and popularity garnered by Jack’s Mannequin’s debut album, Everything in Transit, The Glass Passenger faced high expectations. Despite the difficulty artists tend to have in creating a follow-up album that is as good as their first album, Jack’s Mannequin managed to pull it off fairly well.

While lacking the flowing, story-like quality of Everything in Transit (which was, in fact, a concept album), The Glass Passenger maintains the personal and emotional feel that has been characteristic of front man Andrew McMahon’s lyrics since his days with Something Corporate. The emotional quality of many of the songs on The Glass Passenger, specifically “The Resolution,” have a theme of remaining strong in the face of adversity, no doubt inspired by McMahon’s own experience with leukemia in 2005.

Although The Glass Passenger has one or two songs that don’t quite live up to the standard set by Everything in Transit, gems such as “The Resolution,” “Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)” and “Spinning” make up for the few lackluster songs.

Overall, The Glass Passenger is a well-done second effort. It retains the same emotional and stylistic quality as Everything in Transit and is a worthwhile listen.