The long awaited new album by former Mercury Music Prize nominees Polar Bear has at last appeared on the Coventry based Tin Angel label. Originally slated for release on the V2 label much of this material was recorded some eighteen months ago.

This eponymous third album is some 75 minutes long, far lengthier than either of the band’s previous releases. However, given the vicissitudes the band have suffered over the release of the record you can understand why they wanted to make as much of the material available as possible.

As a result “Polar Bear” is something of a sprawling affair that lacks the tight focus of it’s immediate predecessors. Having said that there is still much to enjoy here. With the fertile musical mind of drummer and composer Sebastian Rochford at the helm one would hardly expect anything else.

The familiar line up remains in place with Rochford leading from the drums, in the company of twin tenor saxophonists Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart plus double bassist Tom Herbert. Electronics artist Leafcutter John who added the maverick element to the previous album “Held On The Tips Of Fingers” is now a fully fledged member of the group. His contributions are now an essential part of the band sound and with Rochford now writing specifically for him his role now seems far more integrated and organic.

Rochford’s writing is as quirky and individual as ever combining elements of jazz, rock, electronica and more in a woozily unique setting. There are a total of fourteen tracks on the album juxtaposing a wide range of moods and styles.

The opening “Tay” establishes a great groove laid down by Rochford and supple but muscular bassist Herbert . Herbert is the rock around which the waves break, the saxes intertwining on the simple but memorable theme as Leafcutter adds effects that owe something to dub reggae stylings.

“Goodbye” is rather inappropriately placed at number two in the running order. However with Polar Bear we’re very much dealing with a musical parallel universe so maybe this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Constantly shifting in mood the piece combines sombre passages of brooding saxophones and electronica with more vigorous, squalling outbursts of noise.

This in turn morphs into “Appears Moves And Sails” underpinned by Rochford’s distinctive drum patterns. Saxophones weave in and out, sometimes electronically embellished by Leafcutter’s effects.

“Tomlovesalicelovestom” is appropriately centred around Herbert’s bass (he being the Tom of the title). The airy theme is one of Rochford’s most memorable and returns after a meandering electronically treated middle section. Alice, meanwhile is Alice Grant, singer with Fulborn Teversham, another of the prolific Rochford’s numerous projects.

“Voices” features the eerie electronic tinklings of Leafcutter with dark hued breathy saxes. The piece manages to combine an ethereal beauty with a vague air of menace.

“Industry” lives up to it’s title with bellicose saxophone and crashing cymbals but even this exhibits the signs of the childlike quirkiness that runs throughout Rochford’s work with Polar Bear.

“Brian” features the warm saxophone lines of Wareham and Lockheart coiling around each other like snakes. With the emergence of Leafcutter as a major force there is less of this type of playing than on the band’s first album “Dim Lit” so this interlude is particularly welcome.

My review copy came with the minimum of information but the sad little song “Sunshine” features a female voice which I’m almost certain is that of Julia Biel who appeared on “Dim Lit” and deploys Rochford in her own band.

“Leafcup”,  like the latter half of “Sunshine appears to combine the saxophonists with a cello, presumably played either by Herbert or fellow F-ire collaborator Ben Davis.

“It Snows Again” is archetypal Polar Bear, the title cross referencing the song “Snow” on the band’s first album.

“Sounds Like A Train To Me” begins a musical journey combining Leafcutter’s electronics and mandolin with Herbert’s propulsive grooves before morphing into “I Am Alive” one of Rochford’s most vibrant and infectious tunes.

The brief"Woollen Blanket” combines the dark, woody sound of Herbert’s bass with Leafcutter’s eerie embellishments.

“Joy Jones” an elegant, sombre lament for a dead friend and musical colleague closes the album.

“Polar Bear” the album is a remarkable piece of work. Other reviewers have remarked on the fact that Rochford has chosen to name his band after an animal that is, in his own words “simultaneously cuddly ,dangerous and fascinating”. It is a pretty accurate description of the music to be heard on this album.

However I prefer an alternative analogy. The ever shifting musical moods and atmospheres mirror the clouds on the album cover. Like a typically showery British summers day you never quite know what to expect next. And to quote an earlier Rochford title “the shapes in the clouds aren’t always happy”.

Serene and unsettling by turns “Polar Bear” may lack the immediate appeal of it’s immediate predecessors but it is an album that slowly grows on you. There is arguably too much music here but Rochford’s unique musical vision ensures that “Polar Bear” remains essential listening.

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