In spite of the nearly three-year gap between their debut album, Noumena, and this follow-up, The Drift have been anything but lazy.

Among its four members, they have their hands in about a dozen different projects - including Grody's other band, Tarentel, for whom the term "prolific" is a gross understatement.

Nevertheless, The Drift toured consecutively with labelmates Explosions In The Sky and MONO across North America and Japan, cementing lasting bonds and providing a brilliant contrast to the fireworks and devastation unleashed by their tourmates.

The extensive tripping did wonders for The Drift's songwriting process, inspiring an efficiency with their structures while maintaining the intoxicating song lengths they are known for.

Though the music on Memory Drawings is familiar, there is a depth to both the performance and production that feels new all over again.

Recorded directly to analog tape with longtime producer Jay Pellicci at Tiny Telephones in San Francisco, the mix is used as another instrument to help shape each song, channeling the mythos of late 60s jazz and late 70s dub classics.

As The Drift have narrowed their focus, they have expanded their influences. Nowhere is this more obvious than "Uncanny Valley," with its shades of Afro-beat and disco-soul; or the dramatic, deserted ballad "Lands End." With Memory Drawings, they have truly found their groove - and the deeper they dig, the more curious we become.