Cormorant is Shriekback's first full-length release since 2000's Naked Apes and Pond Life, and marks their strongest material since Big Night Music. For the neophytes, Shriekback are a band that emerged in the mid-eighties, defying genre and form with their sinewy rhythms and intelligent lyrics, grounded in the heady vocals of Barry Andrews and the throbbing basslines of Dave Allen. For a band that originally disbanded in 1989, they have been busy of late, with an ep in 2002 featuring most of the original lineup, and now a new full-length.

Cormorant is equally interesting for the cast of players it brings to the feast. On three of the tracks- Troublemeat, Reason With The Beast and Sea Theory- we're treated to a reunion of sorts with XTC frontman Andy Partridge on guitar. Fellow music geeks will recall that Shriekback vocalist Barry Andrews played keyboards on the early XTC albums. Twenty years later, they have recongealed on Cormorant. Another notable appearance is made by Veil's vocalist and Andrews' offspring Finn Andrews, who lends his pipes to the rumbling Load The Boat. And it's been a very long time since we've heard the wonderful harmonies of Wendy Partridge on a Shriekback release, but her simple addition immediately recalls the band's stronger efforts on Oil and Gold and Big Night Music. We also have the core band of Andrews, drummer Martyn Barker and guitarist Mark Raudva to round out the band.

Ronny sets the stage on Cormorant, Andrews unmistakable baritone drifting above Barker's complex percussion layers. Wendy Partridge's hushed vocals are the candle on the cupcake, immediately giving the track a classic Shriekback feel. It's by no means the strongest song on the disc, but it does let Shriekback fan know immediately that they are in for a treat, and that the music will be equal parts evolution and reflection. As always, we get meaty lines like "He is sanctified by the god of nails and splinters" and "Chastity and insomnia are a lousy mix."

Sea Theory is the first real standout track. Seeming like the intersection between Andrews' (equally excellent) solo work and the Shriekback of old, Sea Theory hooks you with an ambient loop, composed of sampled nautical (seagulls, boat noises) sounds. It sounds at once like 1982 and 2012, with its raw post punk delivery fortified by plucky Radioheady ambient keys and loops. Delicious vocals by Barry Andrews with backing support from Natasha Griffiths. More lines- "Everything's enormous once again" and "Everybody sighs and everybody multiplies, no one cares too much about the truth." Could they have been written by any other band?

If Sea Theory was the appetizer, Waterbaby is certainly the local delicacy. First heard during Andrews' live shows in early 2003, Waterbaby was the fresh new highlight of those shows, and it has now involved into a fully-formed, instantly classic Shriek tune. When Wendy P's vocals kick in at the chorus, we're back in 1985, witnessing an Oil and Gold track that got away. It is instantly infectious, playful and inventive. The list-like section of recursively chanted "Better than" lines is a Shriekback watermark, and anchors the song well. Key lines- "Never tell him he can't have it, now he wants it more than ever." and "Better bound up than paralysed, better the devil you recognize."

After the punchy and rhythmic instrumental interlude of Huytfi (I swear Andrews has just run out of unique words and has started to invent them), we get the great big The Strongest Wind That Blows. Big and brooding, this one would fit in well on Big Night Music. The Strongest Wind That Blows is very much the big brother of the recent track Feverish Hands, as they share a very similar languorous beat. "Everybody leaves this dance alone" and "My brains boiling in the pan- tests have shown they prove to be inedible." are two ear-catchers on this one.

The nautical theme continues on the post-goth Load The Boat. Finn Andrew's impassioned backing vocals are a nice (if not ironic) foil to his pop's swaggering drawl. Great throbbing synth bass on this one. Philosophical tidbits on Load The Boat: "Is there anyone not amazed, there's still fish to fry" and "Back there in '85- that whole scene, they said there were rainy days on their way- I thought they were just being mean." Rainy days, indeed.

Trouble Meat keeps the party rocking with a great interplay of Partridge's guitar and Barker's heavy drums. "It's not some mighty vision- it's more a dirty Polaroid of history." This one sounds like a more meaty evolution from the Go Bang sessions. The brief but memorable Reason With The Beast piggybacks Trouble Meat, and has Andy Partridge's most creative guitar on Cormorant. On Beast we hear Andrews at his most carnivorous, seething lines like "he's a pitbull that you can't impound... you've got to reason with the beast."

Bonehead opens with the heady bass lines of Douglas Alexander. This one sounds like late-era Shrieks, something that might have arrived around the time of Naked Apes and Pond Life. I don't know- it's hard to take a chorus like "God save all boneheads" too seriously, but the Shrieks haven't made me laugh since that KC & The Sunshine band cover. The quirky beats of Voiled Karletus follow and open sounding like a Prince house party. Again, more words in the title that Webster has no explanation for. Andrews' rapping here has a tribal fervor, and when he spews lines like "she's got the hatchet and the ratchet and the victor's spleen," he doesn't sound like the guy who was just singing about boneheads. Voiled Karletus is as sinister as Shriekback have ever sounded.

Cormorant closes with the functionally instrumental duo of True Passage and Il Mystera Del Tempo. True Passage is an exceptional ambient piece- as atypical an ambient track as you're likely to hear- with several distinct and interesting sections in its less than three minute lifespan. Il Mystera Del Tempo is a nice closer, with it's downbeat tempo and spoken Italian lines a soothing close to a very engaging and energetic disc.

Cormorant is both a welcome return to form and a powerful evolution for a band that have never failed to deliver classy, meaningful and toe-tapping music. Hearing some of the combinations produced by this collective at once recall their better moments, while also inventing new forms within their oeuvre. The canon of Shriekback is further fortified by this hefty dose of sonic bliss.