Nice, it's always good to have a compilation and close off different eras, I've done similar with my art so I totally get the feeling.
I had a listen, quite a few I hadn't heard so here's my honest opinion as a non-audiophile.
(Let's see if my opinion varies on the ones I've heard before!!!)
1. I'm Gone (Edit)
Music was good, Voice is also very good and matches the music. Especially around 2:20 it almost sounded professional, like there was nothing out of place at all. I think having more vocal would have been good as it felt a bit too musical heavy, but that's my preference.
2. Midnight Lost Child
Using an echo is an interesting choice. Since I generally feel that your music lacks in layers, the echo helps to fill that out and make the piece feel more solid. The lyrics were a little hard to hear, perhaps because of the echo. But they were pretty nice lyrics. I started liking it the most around the halfway point, the instruments really came together well.
3. Kaletta
Voice was very good from the very beginning and stronger than normal, felt a lot more confident. Lyrics were a bit more random sounding to be honest. I didn't like the parts where the voices overlapped, they sounded a little out of tune with each other, otherwise it would have been alright I think. Music was pretty good and overall a fun and energetic piece to listen.
4. Cowboy Mythology
The voice overlapping parts worked well this time. I think the melody line was a tad repetitive, as well as the backing music, but it didn't detract too much. The music itself was a pleasant melody though.
5. Bathing In The Morning
Lyrics were pretty chaotic but mostly fitted the narrative of the story you were telling. Vocals felt a bit off tune in this one. Music was alright but felt a bit repetitive. I felt the jump to "7am" felt a little unnatural since you had said "6am" so much, almost felt like the song was gonna continue 8am 9am and so on but then it ended. If I were to rewrite this (not that I could mind you), it might have been nice to have a bit more of the routine actions (like you mentioned orange juice earlier, add some more things like that as the time passes)
6. I'll Have A Water (Feat. Ahasuerus)
Another chaotic lyric sounding one to be honest :P
Not too much to say as it's not quite my cup of tea.
7. Oh! My Sky
Lyrics were pretty nice on this one, especially the quick rhyme parts, which is something I like in songs a lot. I liked the softer instrumental feel as the vocals matched the strength of the music and it felt better balanced than some of your pieces where I can't hear the lyrics too clearly. Vocals also sounded a little less sandy than other pieces and had a bit of a stronger melody to it.
8. Mystic Hour (Feat. Cola)
A nice duet with nice solo parts as well. The music was much softer than your normal pieces which was nice in its own right. Nice lyrics too. Didn't get the cowbell sound (?) at 2:32 tho, sounded out of place.
9. Automobile Forest
Vocals sounded a little wobbly especially at the beginning, but still was close to one of your better control of voice, like you were wobbling between alright and good, when you on average sound just "alright". Apart from the bizzare theme the lyrics were actually pretty good. A bunch of nice re-singable in the shower phrases in there. Music was good, drumming sounded better than usual in this one I think.
10. Just Drank 12 Pepsis
A good use of the can popping open at the beginning, but I think it was drowned out a little by the music, might have been good to have the sound play either on it's own or just with a quieter backing music. Again apart from the randomness the lyrics were pretty fun actually. The vocals were strong and clear in this one. I heard "7", but it might have been nice to hear a couple of other numbers as the song goes on (building up the strength of the song in a crescendo as well), like you're drinking them during the song :P
11. Overclocked
The vocals were pretty strong but felt a little quiet compared to the music (during the quieter music parts the vocals were very good). Good lyrics as well. I liked the repetition parts at 2:02, was strong vocals and also the stronger beat was engaging. Very sing-along-able. The last 1/3 felt a little repetitive in melody though. I think the trailing note could have gone higher in tone as it faded out, it somehow felt very wobbly as it was.
12. Your Nightly World
Vocals were slipping between good notes and "speaking in tune", but almost sounded really good. Where you held the notes at 0:50 and 1:49, as well as the entire line at 1:43 were much more in tune and sounded good. Lyrics were good. Also very good instrumental sections. I felt the song could have ended at 3:33 though with the winding down and the air blowing sound it really felt like the end of the song.
13. Rockin' Out At World's End (Feat. Cola)
Although you have a tendency to speak in tune (more of a grainy voice than clear notes), the voice sound really suited this piece I think. Nice duet parts, the voices worked together well. The lyrics were nice too. A tad repetitive beat I think, but nice guitar parts here and there.
14. One Fine Day (Anaheim 1976)
The voice overlap worked really well in this song. Voice also really suited this style of piece. Liked the backing music especially the guitar which sounded quite distinct from the the other instruments. Very sad this was a short song because I was really getting into it and then it ended :P
15. Topeka, Kansas Corn Heist (Edit)
I remember this was a totally fun mucking about song so not too serious a review on this one. I somehow imagined all three singers in a mostly broken down car puttering along and singing as they go along and plan this heist. Found myself laughing at the ridiculous lyrics when everyone saying saying "I want the corn!" Music was upbeat and fun. Lyrics were good and humorous.
I think I can definitely agree these are some of your best. I might have chosen a few different ones based on my own tastes, but that was most definitely a SOLID album, very well done.
I also get the feeling on general the pieces you picked were the ones where your voice was more in tune as there were a lot less parts where I felt "oops that was a bit off", so a lot less to critique overall. I sort of get the feel that you could lean towards a Michael Buble style as every now and then I felt similar vibes from your voice. But the music style is completely different for sure. I don't know many artists so I can't make a better comparison.
Regarding inspiration and gaining skill, I have a generally unusual take on this that might help, might not.
Basically rather than waiting for inspiration to strike, I continuously work with random themes or copycat themes. So either taking an existing piece that I like and rewriting it in my style, or using a bunch of random words to give a new idea for a theme. The main target of this is to get an insane amount of practice and experience without too much pressure to do your absolute best (because you're not invested in the idea), and also get experience outside of your comfort zone.
This means that when you have an idea you really like, you have much more experience to tackle the piece and put some skill into it. My art is just starting to show results from this method as I'm now able to take my favourite ideas that I originally saved, and make them massively better than I ever thought possible. So I assume it's applicable with other skills. In other words, focusing on gaining skill rather than just "producing pieces". The more individual skills you can identify and work on separately (such as choice of lyrics, voice quality, melody, instrumental parts), the better you can gain skills in them.
But indeed you've made some great pieces over the years, keep it up for 2022!
Looking forward to hearing more.
EDIT wow I typed a lot lol