THIS is one of the more welcome returns, unlike thrush or the banking crisis. Lamb’s Andy Barlow and Lou Rhodes went their separate ways after 2003’s Between Darkness And Wonder, but these long-time Manchester friends and musical partners started playing together again in Summer 2009 and now is the “right time” for a comeback album.

Comeback maybe the wrong word as Five is more of a new beginning, still occupying that space twixt darknesss and wonderment, but fresh too, Barlow finding new ways, new rhythms, to let the poetic, transcendental Rhodes express herself.

The album opens with “a chorus of sampled wine glasses” and ends with a sublime guest vocal from Damien Rice; in between Lamb stretch themselves further than before, answering affirmatively their own question whether they should dare to dream any more after being buffeted by the hard knocks of life. Sample a wine glass or two and Five will come alive.