The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea

After last year's disappointing release of Rehearsing My Choir, The Fiery Furnaces have returned to what they do best, without sacrificing any of the ingenuity for which they have become known. The Friedbergers' new effort, Bitter Tea, to be released in the U.S. on April 18, is an amalgamation of the best parts of their previous albums -- the physicality of Gallowsbird's Bark, the epic greatness of Blueberry Boat and the pop-rock accessibility of EP -- without all that unfortunate Grandma business.

In fact, the order of tracks on Bitter Tea seems to follow that exact chronology with the album's earlier songs evoking the Furnaces' freshman roughness. The throbbing, pounding piano on "I'm In No Mood" --along with some militant-sounding vocals by Eleanor -- recalls the similarly scrappy "I'm Gonna Run" from Gallowsbird's Bark.

Farther along we encounter several tracks reminiscent of Blueberry Boat, the Fiery Furnaces' ambitious sophomore album. With "Borneo," for instance, the Friedbergers' typically intricate imagination is on full display. On it we take part in a bizarre, gambling-fueled journey from the suburbs of New Canaan, Conn., to Baltimore's own Inner Harbor and Pimlico (really!), and, by way of Sydney, eventually end up on the titular Indonesian island. The song's pacing and Eleanor's singing are, at once, frantic and leisurely.

Bitter Tea also highlights another of Eleanor's greatest talents: her paradoxical ability to sing with a gray melancholy while still being able to make what she's singing sound catchy. "Waiting To Know You" is a good example of this. It's a song about, oddly enough, waiting for something that won't ever come, but Eleanor is able make it all seem so foot-tappingly, head-bobbingly good.

Another song, however, has a monopoly on the super-catchy. "Police Sweater Blood Vow" is possibly the most appealing song the Furnaces have ever made, and, to their credit, they're able to pull it off without the loss of any of their trademark stylizing effects and banshee electric guitars. Not to mention the alliteration, which reaches a climax on "Nevers" (essentially a cross between an e.e. cummings poem and the theme music from Super Mario).

In the end, The Fiery Furnaces have pulled off something remarkable and deserving of respect: They have redeemed themselves without compromising the quality or originality of their music.