Siberia

On SIBERIA, Echo & the Bunnymen's first studio album since 2001's FLOWERS, the brooding Liverpool band reunites with producer Hugh Jones, who worked on the post-punk group's revered early-1980s records CROCODILES and HEAVEN UP HERE. Collaborating with Jones, vocalist/guitarist Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant avoid the pomp and circumstance of outings such as OCEAN RAIN, giving these new songs a welcome immediacy, most notably on the chiming, poppy "Stormy Weather" and the dreamy "In the Margins." Although McCulloch's deep voice lacks its former range, time has given it a charmingly raspy quality that plays nicely off of Sergeant's signature swirling guitar lines. Easily one of Echo & the Bunnymen's best latter-day albums, SIBERIA wisely nods to the band's classic early output without attempting to duplicate it.