I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. How long do you remember some of the concerts that you go to after they happen? Do you remember and follow every band that you see live?

When I first saw The Reason play in concert, it was early and snowy in 2007; I had let a girl convince me to see The Spill Canvas at The Mod Club in February, and The Reason were the band to kick off the evening. That was less than one month before their second LP, Things Couldn't Be Better, was widely released.

Fast forward to summer 2010; the band's latest release — Fools, out since August 24 — applies all that they've learned from the past three years and more. This time they've found their true sound.

"A month after our last record was done, I couldn't listen to it anymore," said Adam White, front man. "We just recorded it all wrong, we used a recording method that, you know … it works for some bands, it just didn't work for us."

"With this album, we wanted to sound like we do live. We're sick of people being like, 'Oh man, I like your record, but you guys are so much better live.' Every decision we made about this was to make it sound most like our band."

White described the differences between the two records as polar opposites on the spectrum of production: "On the old record, the drummer would just go up and play his part, and then the bass player would just go and play to the drum track," he said.

"This time we just did everything as live as could be. With every guitar tone, we would get the tone before recording it, whereas on the last record we were just recording guitar and getting the tone in mixing, you know? (Fools) was the easiest mix we've ever done, because everything was already there."

Everything there indeed, the result is a surprisingly fresh record; take for example The Longest Highway Home, the record's first single and a song that summons a familiar feeling that makes you wonder what you were doing the last time you heard it, before you wonder whether you've heard it before at all.

Compare that to tracks like the poppy The Ending Of Us All, the upbeat acoustic Dogs, or the soulful Work With Me, on which the band almost seem to channel the precision of early Toto recordings.

The new approach and the new sound is working well for the band; The Longest Highway Home has cracked the top 30 countdown on 102.1 The Edge in Toronto, and is warming up on radio stations locally too. Though at this point one can only speculate as to what the next single might be, White is excited for the record to be heard.

"I wish you could hear the other songs, it tells this big, long story about why the album is called Fools," he said. "The first song is called Come & Go and it sums up everything. Then every song is about one different aspect of life being in a band. I wouldn't call it a concept record at all, but it all kind of has a theme."

So would he say that the title of the record was actually meant to be a self-reference?

"Definitely. We came up with the title of the record before any of the songs were written," White laughed. "I just think we learned a lot that last time around, and we're not going to make the same mistakes again. Every decision we make is going to be made from the heart, not because someone told us to. Now I feel like we know what we're doing... a bit."

White indicated that The Reason will return to London in October; in the meantime, they are playing at the Casbah in Hamilton on Saturday, September 25, in celebration of the release of Fools. Also playing the party are Gentlemen Husbands, Teenage Kicks and Distance Between Stars. More information is available at thereason.ca.

All I am saying is give Fools a chance. Also, check out the Music Recommendations thread on the new FSU social site to see what new music Adam White of The Reason is enjoying lately. I'm out of words.