When revealed that the title of their 15th album would be , speculation ran wild among their online fan base. What did the title mean? Was the album going to be a broadside about the state of America in the era? Was it going to be some sort of homage to 's troubled 1971 masterpiece ? Or were these die-hard record collectors simply tipping their caps to ' 1954 hit "Riot in Cell Block #9"? What no one seemed to guess was a band that's made a habit out of inscrutable album and song titles would simply be continuing in that great tradition. As it is, there's precious little that's riotous about 2018's -- quite the opposite, it's one of the most languid and inward-looking albums have released to date. made the album without a formal producer, simply recording themselves in their practice space (with bassist serving as engineer) and having (who worked with the band on 2013's ) mix the tracks. The results find the band deep in atmospheric mode, with washes of loops and noise hovering in the background on most tunes while generates spare, ringing guitar figures, lays out her typically warm and implacable groove on drums, and all three members daub the surroundings with keyboards and percussion. Many of the selections on are instrumental, and when the numbers do feature vocals, and have pushed most of the singing deep into the mix, so if you were expecting this album to mount a soapbox, you'll be very disappointed. This LP is also short on 's fractured pop sensibilities and 's volleys of noise guitar; instead, is deeply introspective, 63 minutes of dreamy late-night musings and drifting soundscapes that's often very beautiful but demands to be met on the artists' own terms. is, in its own subtle way, at their most uncompromised; it's an album that's likely to separate their most hardcore fans from more casual admirers, though if you loved "Night Falls on Hoboken" from , you'll likely savor it. ~ Mark Deming