Last year we announced that we were about to undertake a four album project called The Nomad Series and that the project was going to be completed in 18 months. Well, depending on how you do the calculation, today is the 18 month anniversary. The way I figure it, we officially released volume 1 (Renmin Park) on June 16th, 2010, so I count that as the official start of the ticking clock. Projecting 18 months forward from that day lands us squarely in the middle of today. So what can I say...oops...we tried, we failed...mea culpa.... My excuse is that the reality of earning a living got in the way of our ambition and I had to suspend production on Volume 4 when I got offered to do the music score for a very interesting documentary project called My Father And The Man In Black (more on that in the months to come). This set the production schedule back by about six weeks. In any case, the good news is that all of the recording for Volume 4 (The Wilderness) has been completed and we have just started mixing. We aim to have the album finished and mastered by mid January and to have the finished goods in hand when we start touring again in February. Once we have the finished master (in mid-January) we plan to have a one day listening party for the new album on the website, so that we can claim that we only missed our deadline by a few weeks (we’ll give everyone a lot of notice about the date when we finalise the details). Ultimately, the whole point of the project was to put out four albums that forced us to stretch our imaginations and talents and to pull on the experience that we have accumulated in our 25 plus years as a band. We also wanted to make sure that we pushed the expectations of those of you still listening. We think we have done that and we hope you agree. Quality first...right? We think Volume 4 will be a fitting capper to the whole project. I’ll start blogging about the making of the album and posting audio in the New Year, so don’t wander too far. We will also be having a blowout sale in the Junk Store starting right after Christmas so keep your eyes on the site.

Great news. This band may have hit their commercial peak with "Sweet Jane" years ago, but they've been amazingly consistent since then. The Nomad series has been really interesting.

Hmm. By consistent I didn't really mean boring. I actually think their recent stuff is wonderful and exciting.

I think they suffer from what I call "Elvis Costello Malaise". Like Elvis Costello they've been good for so long that people sort of take them for granted. IMO of course.

That.

I think there's no better band in the world right now. Nothing they do is remotely poor, and much (maybe most) of it is exceptional. It's all very tasteful and soulful and done with first-rate musicianship and passion -- and commitment to their art.

And if you think their stuff all sounds the same these days, I recommend you see them live and then see what you think.