Wilco

The Whole Love dBpm Records****

If there's one thing Wilco aren't afraid of, it's experimentation, and Jeff Tweedy co have taken plenty of risks throughout their chequered history. You'd be forgiven for thinking that their eighth studio album is another gamble, given the Radiohead- esque opener, Art of Almost,with its scattered rhythm and fuzzy wig-out. Yet while The Whole Loveisn't the Chicagoan's most avant garde offering, it's their best in some time. A broad palette of genres are undertaken with subtlety and charisma, be it indie-rock with irresistibly melodic choruses ( Dawned on Me, Capitol City), mellow ballads that swell with a soft passion (the gentle waltz of Open Mindis especially beguiling), or the shuffling, rough and ready thud they've made their own over the past 17 years. A strident return. See wilcoworld.net

Download tracks: Open Mind, Dawned on Me, Whole Love