This is the duo’s most accomplished album since their debut LP, The Optimist (2001). That’s not to say Ether Song and Jackinabox were total disappointments; but some fans of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian’s early records were waiting for the full-band, beefed-up TB to reprise the distinctive and haunting, sometimes indebted but always unpredictable chord progressions, anguished lyrics and dovetailing harmonies of their first releases. They do so here. Ghost, with its rude Stranglers Hammond and bass, epitomises their ability to mine well-worn seams, yet veer off in less earthbound directions: this duality, at once intuitive and cerebral, is their USP. Other highlights on a brilliant album (superbly produced by Ethan Johns) include the creepy, insistent and self-explanatory Stalker, the languid, dust-blown country of Other Side and Here Comes the Moon, three spectral minutes that could be from the Optimist sessions. Wonderful.

Source/Virgin CDSOURX128

Download Here Comes the Moon at apple.com/itunes

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