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For those that don't know them: Hum is a gem. They were one of my favorite bands in high school and in my college years. It has been 22 years since their last album, 1998's 'Downward Is Heavenward', and it is really nice to have them back!
'Inlet' finds Hum only moving in slight ways from their trademark sound of thick, layered, fuzzed out, post-hardcore. Here they edge back on the post-hardcore (what I would have called emo at the time, but the term has since taken on a different sort of meaning) in favor of significantly greater shoegaze influence. They always had a bit of shoegazer atmosphere going on, but it was never so far in the foreground. The unified blast of detuned power chords and thick bass continue on as always, propelled by punchy drumming.
On my first listen I was disappointed by the opener, 'Waves'. It was so shoegazy, of a slightly My Bloody Valentine variety... I liked it, but hoped that they hadnt left behind all of what I was looking for. Track two, 'In the Den', blends this newer sound with what I would say is more traditional Hum fare. From there on it just gets better and better. Track five, 'The Summoning', starts out with a doom metal riff that will please readers that liked my Windhand review (and the album that it reviewed). It is the little touches like that one that blend into different parts of this album and enhance and expand their sound into new territories, but they almost never leave completely behind the sound that brought them to this point.
I don't know that this will end up a classic like 'You'd Prefer an Astronaut' or 'Downward Is heavenward', but it definitely stands leaps and bounds above a lot of the "comeback" albums that have come out in recent years. In particular I am thinking of American Football, whose new album(s) are ok... but they lack some kind of youthful innocense/charm that was present on the earlier work. Hum manage to keep their sci-fi infused post-hardcore sound together while modernizing a bit. A really solid effort worth checking out. I am now on my fourth playthrough and will update in the coming months if my thoughts on the album expand or change significantly.