Australian band Dirty Three are often lumped together into the post-rock genre along with bands like Sigur Rós and Godspeed You Black Emperor!. While there are some similarities between the bands, such as the predominance of lead violin parts, and the fact that both of them specialise in long, winding pieces of music that paint vivid landscapes using only musical instruments. However, apart from that, the bands are quite dissimilar, unlike the others, Dirty Three combine a real folk rock element into their music, sounding like a band that would be as comfortable in the 19th century as in the 21st. Their music is melancholy and poignant, unlike the pallid angst of GYBE, and the epic triumph of Sigur Rós.

Dirty Three's last album, "She Has No Strings, Apollo", followed the established tradition of the band, consisting of a handful of extended pieces of music with no particular structure, that meandered their way through the musical soundscape with no particular destination in mind. It was beautiful, delicate, and in some places haunting. Unfortunately, it also sounded exactly the same as all their other albums, except without the vision of their standout releases like "Ocean Songs" and "Whatever You Love, You Are". Perhaps stung by the criticism, the band have radically reworked their approach on "Cinders", releasing a mammoth nineteen track collection of songs, and altered their approach considerably on a number of them.

For instance, Doris is something that you'd never have expected to hear on a Dirty Three album. It starts out with a few gentle notes of bass guitar, before a sprightly drum line begins, followed by a staccato, distorted electric guitar. Various other elements then work their way around the guitar, including a violin being tortured to sound like a set of bagpipes, and a jam with a faintly Arabian flavour. It's not something that longtime fans of the band will be familiar with, but the raucous number is executed with enough feeling and skill that it doesn't sound out of place.

Another interesting number that breaks the mould is Great Waves, which features a vocal collaboration from Chan Marshall. I've always through that one of the band's high points was their collaboration with Low which featured Mimi Parker's vocals over the band's gorgeous sonic palette, and this one song recreates the same sort of atmosphere. Purists are likely to disagree with me on this point, but I think that the band sounds just as powerful with vocals, as without.

Of course, there are still some old-fashioned Dirty Three style songs on here. She Passed Through, is a slowly building piece that ends with an achingly beautiful violin crescendo. Sad Sexy is like one of the epic tracks of "Ocean Songs", but compressed into a mere three and a half minutes. Too Soon, Too Late is built around some beautiful acoustic guitar pieces, with the violin providing an undercurrent of vague menace.

One distinct feature that runs through this album, is how Mick Turner's guitar really comes out from under the shadow of Warren Ellis' violin. On previous albums, Turner and drummer Jim White sometimes had a habit of acting as little more than a backing group for Ellis' violin pyrotechnics. This time around, the band feels much more like a group, with each band member contributing equally towards the sound. Although there are no jaw-dropping moments like Authentic Celestial Music on this album, the way that no one instrument seems to predominate makes the music that much more interesting. If you don't like the way a particular song is going, then you can just wait another couple of minutes, and another idea and theme will come in. Despite the variety, the music never feels schizophrenic or like a folk-based Mr Bungle album, everything holds together remarkably well.

"Cinder" is different from previous Dirty Three albums, but who wants to hear the same set of songs, no matter how good, again and again? It shows the band experimenting with plenty of new ideas, and pushing their musical boundaries. I'd hesitate to say it's the best album that they've ever released, but it's probably the most interesting. A must listen for fans of the band, and those looking for some instrumental rock that's slightly different.