Band Of Horses - 'Infinite Arms' (Columbia) Released 17/05/10

Having wowed many a transatlantic indie fan, not to mention the odd Grey’s Anatomy viewer, with their emotionally-charged rock over the past four years, Band Of Horses have marked their return with a confident third album.

The South Carolina-based group’s previous material exuded a noticeable warm quality, making them a welcome addition to the more delicate side of the rock spectrum in the late noughties. This latest long player, while not quite illustrating the progression some people may have trumpeted in the build-up to its release, will do their position no harm at all.

Ben Bridwell’s shrill, heartfelt vocal tone still invites attention and love in equal measure, and the band’s instrumentation veers between low-key rusticity and stadium-ready grandeur.

If ‘Compliments’ and ‘Laredo’ are the true radio hits, slightly more upbeat than the majority of their ‘Infinite Arms’ bedfellows, then ‘For Annabelle’ and ‘Way Back Home’ are the latest in a decent line of show-stopping slow-burners in Band Of Horses’ expanding armoury.

The album’s true highlights are saved until late on though, ensuring a hearty conclusion. Preceded by many of the quintet’s calmer efforts on the record, the penultimate track ‘NW Apt.’ is something of a rock stomp by comparison, easily capable of injecting adrenaline into the blood of any discerning fan of the band, thanks to its sudden pace and urgency.

With spirits soaring as a result, closing song ‘Neighbor’ then provides a memorable three minutes of Fleet Foxes-esque vocal harmonies, ahead of its evolution into one of the most melodic walls of sound ever to emerge from the Palmetto State.

On the basis of ‘Infinite Arms’, you can see why Band Of Horses have asserted themselves as being a fairly easy band to like in recent years. The melodies are spot on, the emotion is believable and from a stylistic point-of-view, while things haven’t really moved on from their previous work, songwriting of this calibre is still a cause for celebration.