the album features two cover songs. the first, "hold your head up" (originally by argent), was first performed by glass hammer in 1996 during the festival progscape. babb estimates that the studio version was recorded "around that time, probably in 1997". the other cover is "it's all too much" (originally by the beatles, although this version was also inspired by steve hillage's cover in his 1976 album "l"), which was recorded in 2009 during the sessions for "three cheers for the broken-hearted", and performed "as an encore piece for a few live shows". for "untold tales", glass hammer replaced their original recording's pipe organ with a hammond organ, and created a new bass line.