After a couple albums with his excellent band, is back with a new album and band, . plays bass guitar exclusively on this recording, joined by bandmates and on guitars (panned right and left, respectively) with on drums and both guesting on a handful of tracks. is definitely more of a rock-leaning group than has led in the past, but the writing for the band is superb. The songs don't really feature any prominent soloing, except from when they appear. There's certainly some great playing going on, like the ripping guitar at the end of "Calling on Cars," but the focus really seems to be on the atmosphere and interplay of the instruments, not flashy solos. The choice of covers also leans toward the rock end of the spectrum: a rocker from and a couple pretty songs from and notorious oddball (!). A couple tracks have a bit of an African influence ("She Walked In" and "Djali"), and "Frozen Bread" is a jagged funk tune. "Far Away Planet" has a great bassline reminiscent of "Maneater" and features some great playing from . "Calling on Cars" and "Birds" have excellent up-front basslines, but again the focus on this album is really the tunes themselves. 's and 's originals are all really strong, and the covers are well chosen and certainly off the beaten path. is a great new album and promising new band from . ~ Sean Westergaard