Here's a tricky thing to do: try and explain Spoon's sound to a friend who's never heard them before. Across eight albums now the Texas act has dabbled in whimsical folk-country, detoured down widescreen alt-rock routes, and even taken on poppier, happier guises at times.
That undefinable quality is what led one reviewer to call They Want My Soul "the Spooniest of Spoon albums" and as ridiculous as it sounds, he's got a point.
With new keyboardist/guitarist Alex Fischel in the band and a year-long holiday behind them, They Want My Soul takes a sparser, minimalist approach to songwriting, one that comes with a subtle electronic influence.
Try the dreamy lope of Inside Out, which rolls by like a lazy summer day, or Rent I Pay, which pairs a simple guitar line with a soothing chorus.
Best - and strangest - of all is Knock Knock Knock, which builds on a stuttering riff with layers of spooky whistling, jarring feedback and some seriously angry lyrics.
