Bookended by wordless piano-led pieces, any other changes to that ever-consistent Sexsmith songcraft on Exit Strategy are subtle, such as the Cuban horns betraying the sessions' Havana locale and helping to lighten the mood on his response to Feist's Reminder recording of co-write "Brandy Alexander", taking a more carefree view of the trouble he's in (don't know about the late-Cohenesque female backup vocal, though!). "Poor Helpless Dreams" casts Sexsmith in the same fine-fitting near-R&B cloak once worn on Retriever's "Whatever It Takes", this time picking the pace up to disco-lite tempo.