The fourth
No-Man album proper shows that the duo doesn't simply continue its quality into another decade, but continues its bent for exploration. If not focused on beats and loops this time around, in terms of taking the signifiers of "mature" music -- string accompaniment, delicacy, understatement, and more -- and giving them life and real meaning,
No-Man hits another indisputable high with
Returning Jesus.
Tim Bowness' voice is still a seductive, encompassing flow of words and emotion, while
Steve Wilson seems to be ever more the musical polymath in life. With the help of eight guests, including such semi-regulars as
Porcupine Tree bassist
Colin Edwin, flute/sax player
Theo Travis, and
Japan veteran
Steve Jansen on drums, the two create nine sweepingly elegant pieces. The emphasis throughout is actually on understating rather than piling everything on, a less-is-more approach that suits both the lyrics and the music as a whole. The end result feels like a companion piece to
Talk Talk's majestic
Laughing Stock, with its blend of jazz experimentalism and heartfelt delivery, and a more overtly pop sensibility thanks to
Bowness' delivery. The opening track, "Only Rain," is just spectacular, with fragile synth-string orchestration by
Wilson and
Ian Carr's trumpet subtly dictating the flow of the piece. "Outside the Machine" equals that particular high in different ways; the overdubbed vocal choir from
Bowness is a gentle offset to his own lead, while
Wilson's arrangements and his extended instrumental break on guitar and piano are pure treasure. Two cuts resurface from the
Carolina Skeletons EP, the title track and "Close Your Eyes," here appearing in an extended version that isn't vastly different from the original, but keeps all the beauty intact. Perhaps the most interesting track of all is the title cut, a minimal combination of ringing percussion and squirrelly keyboards suddenly given a vaster scope via
Wilson's guitar and
Bowness' rich, wonderful vocals.