After enjoying a four-year hiatus, slowcore icons Low (married couple Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, plus bassist Steve Garrington) have returned with C’mon (in stores and online tomorrow), their third album on Sub Pop Records and ninth overall. Ditching the drum loops and chilly synthesizers that weighed down 2007’s Drums and Guns, the trio’s latest is a return to lush, minimalist form: evocative guitar arrangements and half-murmured vocals over barely there drumming and an ever present ambient hum of chilly, emotional iridescence.

“Try To Sleep” is an energetic burst of twinkly, mid-tempo dream pop, its hazy feel-good vibes accentuated by Parker’s atypically forceful drumming. “You See Everything” is even more of a pleasant surprise with its waltzing piano chords and late ‘60s, Bacharachian melancholia. The group delves into classic folk rock territory on the warm and inviting “Something’s Turning Over”, but by and large, C’mon treads familiar waters for long time fans of the group’s hushed, introverted sensibilites-- “Witches” features some gritty, grungy guitar work from Sparhawk, countered by his wife’s always gorgeous background vocal harmonies. There’s a handful of stirring electric almost-solo pieces, with “Done” channeling John Doe’s solo work and featuring Nels Cline on lap steel. 

It’s Mimi who steals the show, however— her stunning vocals on the post-rock elegy “Especially Me” are heartbreaking in their modesty, with an understated string arrangement lending extra chills to her moody cooing. Riding on Parker's understated hi-hat drumming, “Nightingale” is a black as night, jazzy stunner, both emotionally soaring and sonically diminished. By the end of “Nothing But The Heart”’s gradually building, beautifully repetitious guitar drone, both fans and newcomers will be absolutely swooning over the band’s long overdue return.

Sum-ology: The band’s best album since The Great Destroyer—gorgeous melodies wrapped up in minimalist, reverb-drenched guitar… Everything you’d expect from one of indie rock’s most emotionally rewarding bands.

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Follow Brett Warner on Twitter: @Erasurehead

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