Six takes its title from two references: a book by AA Milne and a character in TV series 'The Prisoner'. Both favourites of the band, the influences are indictive of the subject matter - personal issues replace the imaginery characters of their first album. Songs about tramps sleeping in doorways and having an AIDS test lie alongside songs about eastern philosophy and western religion. Musically though, influences are fairly absent - Paul's idols Bowie and De Voto do seem to have helped tailor the sound, but really 'Six' is pretty unique - there is no sound like it. This is because although there is only 13 tracks on the album there are hundreds of tunes, and only a few choruses. The structures are revolutionary, and that is not the only originality. The band, fed up with the music industry supporting more britpop rock have made guitars sound un-like guitars, with the use of many effects pedals and under-used mixing techniques. And yet the album was still based on Mansun playing live, so even though the album would be impossible to play live as it is, there is a feeling of natural aggresion and ad-libbing fuelled creativity.