Mojave 3: Spoon and Rafter

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * *)

The solo album Sleeping on Roads by Mojave 3 singer-songwriter Neil Halstead was in the top 10 of last year's best-of selection in this paper, so interest here was always going to be high when the band re-emerged. And because Sleeping on Roads included contributions from most of Mojave 3 it's not unexpected their return adopts similar woozy sonics where dreamy Americana meets gentle Anglofolk in songs about sadness and loss.

The wistful Writing to St Peter and folksy jangle-pop of Too Many Mornings here could slip easily into Sleeping on Roads which just reminds you, if it ain't broke - even if it's a heart - then why fix it?

If anything, this is marginally more musically textured than their previous outings: pianist Alan Forrester is credited also with "Moog and noise" which means atmospheric creaks and subtle electronics; the hushed and sympathetic vocals of Rachel Goswell are given more prominence in places; and, with the exception of the seductive Between the Bars the Americana quotient of soft steel guitars is reduced in favour of mournful cello and lo-fi piano.

While some material ambles - the nine-minute Battle of the Brokenhearts, lovely though it is in places, sounds like two songs welded together - and isn't as memorable as those on his solo outing, Halstead (who takes the predominant writing role) still touches a pop heart on the gorgeous Starlite 1, and reaches back to his previous noisy band Slowdive for the big strum of Billoddity (which sounds nothing like a Goodies song as the title might suggest).

Subtle, intimate and sometimes offering an elegant simplicity, Mojave 3 out of Cornwall, now four albums in, still have a tight connection to the heart of their refined, distinctive sound.

Label: 4AD