Following Mark Olson's amicable departure, the remaining Jayhawks reconvened under the direction of Gary Louris to record Sound of Lies, the band's most ambitious album to date. Like Wilco's Being There, Sound of Lies uses country-rock as a foundation and wanders off into a variety of different sonic territories, including surf rock and Beatlesque pop, bringing the music closer to the sound of adult alternative pop/rock.