Rarely have so many owed so much to so few. In 1990, The Sundays' debut album, Reading, Writing & Arithmetic, established a sound that has influenced everyone from folky alt-rockers the Cranberries and Belly to ethereal trip-hop groups such as the Sneaker Pimps and Portishead. The Sundays' key ingredients--singer Harriet Wheeler's alluringly childlike voice and a harmonic approach that delivered somewhat dissonant chordings on strummed, washy guitars--created a mini-sensation, fueled by their alt-rock hit "Here's Where the Story Ends." But their 1992 follow-up, Blind, took a blander route, and after it failed to capitalize on the gains made by the debut album, the band took some time off. A lot of time. Five years later, Wheeler and guitarist-songwriter David Gavurin have had a baby, constructed a home studio, and . . . let's see . . . oh, yeah, they recorded their finest album yet. No, it's not exactly a return to the exuberant spirit of the debut, nor does it traffic in the peculiar harmonies that made certain tracks jump right out of your speakers. But this is a beautiful, accomplished effort in which orchestral strings and Gavurin's lightly funky guitar parts provide an ideal sonic bed for Wheeler and her lovely, keening voice. Strangely, the first single (and opening track), "Summertime," is not one of the album's better cuts. The synthesizer punches seem overly artificial, and the soaring chorus doesn't quite balance its rather dull verse. The next seven tracks more than make up for it, though, from the gorgeous, Joni Mitchell-influenced "Folk Song" and the Eddi Reader-like "When I'm Thinking About You" to the rocked-up, psychedelic "Another Flavour." Not only has the story not ended, but the latest chapter is a must-read.
--Bob Remstein