"Mojave 3 are writing their poppiest material to date," says the press release, forebodingly. But fans of the band that grew from the ashes of Slowdive need not panic - Breaking The Ice is a record entirely in Mojave 3 context.
Lest we forget, the band's fourth album, Spoon & Rafter, headed off in an experimental direction, while Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell each also released a solo album apiece. Such space to try new things seems to have made the band focus on what it is - a vehicle for one of Britain's best bands to treat us to an exuberant singalong that lodges itself deeper in the listener's mind with every play. Neil has indeed written a pop song, but one that's stylistically very much his own.
Breaking The Ice is not amongst Mojave 3's many wistful, spectral, reflective moments, but instead recalls the campfire bonhomie of Return To Sender or Some Kinda Angel, with Neil's breathy vocals topping off an acoustic brew with a beat urging it along. Somehow it seems not only summery and grounded, like the Mojave 3 of old, but determined, focused and fun. As a taster for fifth album Puzzles Like You it couldn't be more appetising.
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