The Sundays defined the alternative waif movement in 1990 with their debut album "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" and single "Here Is Where the Story Ends."
Women in modern rock have grown a lot tougher since the English quartet's 1992 fo llow-up ("Blind"), but the oblivious Sundays return from a five-year hiatus with a wistful "Static & Silence.
The long break which gave lead singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin a chance to have a baby didn't much change The Sundays. The arrangements, typical ly featuring a folky mix of strings and acoustic guitars, are gently seductive, an d Wheeler still sounds like a soft-spoken angel.
There's also the same undercurrent of melancholy that has forever lingered in The Sundays' lyrics, words that seem at odds with the beauty in the air.
On the first single, "Summertime, Wheeler is preoccupied with the idea of love bu t wondering, "Have I read too much fiction?" And on the romantic "When I'm Thinkin g About You, her line, "Hope I'11 never wake when I'm thinking about you," implies true love is just a dream.
For many singers, the waif act sounds manufactured and hollow. And judged solely on its lyrics, "Static & Silence" seems similarly affected Wheeler comparing herse lf to "a butterfly in the wind" on "Homeward," for example.
But it's the vocalist's simple emotion that gives The Sundays' their strength. Despite the chirping birds on "I Can't Wait," she has a disquieting presence as s he sings, "And the days and the hours and the years keep turning in my mind/I've b een waiting forever." Meanwhile, her powerful understatement on "Cry" is pure hear tbreak ("You're with me so much/ Though you're never with me anymore/And it makes me cry").
As diversions, there are fidgety rock guitars in "So Much" and "Another Flavour," although they don't fate the nebulous Wheeler. Plus The Sundays tackle a few topi cs other than relationships bittersweet memories "Monochrome" and "Leave This City ") as well as the fickleness of fashion ("Another Flavour"). Yet "Static & Silence" is characterized by its plain and direct intimacy, giving it timeless appeal.
Even if it is a little sappy.
Rating: XXXX (out of XXXXX)