While the Return to Cookie Mountain was created with guitar pedals and ennui, it resolves that to stay alive and sane in the world, you need to believe in love, believe in your ability to overcome your base instincts, believe in the power of being together with other people, and believe in the power of your art to give you personal liberation. A return to the innocence and fantasy of before might not be possible, but this album has no choice but to try.