swung between playful, fragile pop and show-stopping outbursts on their debut album, , but they channel their muse even more purely on . It's an apt title for this sleek yet intense collection of songs, which are driven by primal energy and tribal drama. All of this is on display on which begins the album with a wall of 's voice. Layered upon itself, intoning as she sings about a man who swam to Iceland, her vocals conjure a feeling of long ago and far away that winds through the rest of , particularly on where her chanting is so spellbinding that when she rebels against its repetition with a flourish of autoharp, it feels like she's tearing the air around her. She and drummer take the explosiveness of songs like to a volcanic extreme on one of many showcases for 's powerful but impressionistic approach. As he moves from thunderous toms to delicate stick work, matches him at every turn, wailing "my eyelids ache from too much darkness" and digging into a guttural style that echoes Tuvan throat singing. Somehow feels more direct than , even though the instrumentation has expanded to steel drum, piano, marimba, and xylophone, most of which can be heard on a tale of imprisonment that goes from light to gut-punching in a twinkling. While a lot of the album is dedicated to ' wildest side, there are a few tender moments, like the hushed, Eastern-tinged love song The duo even finds room to revisit their blues and jazz inspirations on ' soulful melody and 's playful scatting and big band-inspired drum rolls. However, they save the best for 's final track, which captures the spirit, if not the sound, of gospel in its calls and responses and searching, searing joy. The spareness and strength of ' music was brave before, but it's even more confident here, marking a big step forward for an already striking band. ~ Heather Phares