Equus Caballus Review

If the first record was the withdrawal, this is the return to the familiar: the bass comes back, the drums have a pulse again, and the guitar figures do the interlocking thing that made the band's reputation. To Ease You and Come Back Down are the strongest of the new material, both built on that unhurried groove with a vocal floating on top. Hard to See and Carried Away are pleasant. The reason this lands below its twin is the padding.

Three of the thirteen tracks are 2025 versions of songs the band put out years ago, and while the new arrangements are perfectly nice, rerecording old singles to complete a track listing is what a group does when it is short of material. Set against a project announced as two full albums, that is a real mark against it. What remains is a good, comfortable, well made forty minutes from a band who now know exactly how to make this sound and are not pushing it anywhere new.