On 2017's , returns to after a seven-year hiatus -- a period when he busied himself with two operas, a solo album, and a reunion -- and reconnects with the collaborative instincts that drove the band's first two albums. -- the 2010 album that served as the group's last major opus ( , released just months later, was that LP's bittersweet coda) -- found stepping toward the center stage but on he recedes, giving his collaborators the spotlight and softening whatever complicated narrative he and illustrator devised for their cartoon group's fourth phase. Maybe this is why feels wild and unruly in a way never did: the emphasis is on the individual cuts, not the grand concept. Some themes are woven throughout the record -- there's a political undercurrent, although the upheavals of and Brexit are never addressed directly; there's a heavy reliance on R&B and hip-hop -- but the album seems pleasingly scattershot as it bounces from guest to guest. Its messiness suits the digital era, when it's possible to swipe from style to style without a second thought, but isn't haphazard. deliberately sculpts each cut, giving plenty of space for , and longtime mainstay to roam. That list of guest artists underscores how feels connected to soul in a way didn't, but with its careening, carnivalesque hooks and skeletal spook -- not to mention how the whole thing is anchored on "Busted and Blue," a solo track that could've slid onto -- it's clearly an project. But even with its heavy, heavy R&B vibe and roiling politics, feels strangely uplifting, as if every musician who entered the studio found solace in the act of creation. That's why "We Got the Power" -- a collaboration with singer and 's onetime rival -- is such a fitting closer: in dark times, it finds hope and inspiration in the power of the collective, which is a testament to what intends to do with . ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine