New Release Tuesday

Since the release of their debut album, Gallowsbird's Bark, the brother/sister duo that make up The Fiery Furnaces kept the course, releasing an album a year since 2003. Off the heels of last year's Bitter Tea, the Friedberger's return to form with Widow City. Their first album for Thrill Jockey, City seems to find the siblings gelling comfortably along, and helping us even more to forget 2005's trainwreck that was Rehearsing My Choir (I mean, really, the music was great, but I did tire of their grandmother delivering 90% of the vocals. "The Garfield El" is one of my all time favorite Furnaces' tracks, though.) Opening track "The Philadelphia Grand Jury" could easily fit on their masterpiece, 2004's Blueberry Boat. Over the first seven minutes of the album, the song shifts from different song structures to slowing down and speeding up the same melodies, ending with the classic Furnace touch: the instrumental interlude. Their also seems to be some harking for the great land of pyramids (tracks "Clear Signal From Cairo" and "My Egyptian Grammar" do appear back to back,) and emulate their best Keith Moon (the awesome drum solo that starts off "Uncle Charlie.") The Furances, they're back. Thank god.

Download: "The Philadelphia Grand Jury" [mp3] // [Buy Here]