The Helio Sequence has had a spotty history when it comes to their studio output. Coming off of a very strong start with their first album, their subsequent releases were inconsistent, too often squandering a couple of good songs in an album that was too gauzy, too flat, and too pedestrian to really do justice to the band's obvious talent. However, it's been four years since the band's last release, and a lot has changed in the band's world since then.

Foremost among these things of course is the destruction of vocalist Brandon Summers' vocal chords due to too much singing and yelping on the band's relentless touring schedule. Summers virtually had to learn to sing again in the break between this album and 2004's "Love and Distance", and it definitely shows, his former vocal acrobatics have been replaced by a much more subdued and restrained style that is different enough to even make this sound like a completely different band.

Losing one of their most distinctive characteristics could have been a crushing blow to the band, but in this case it actually comes out as a net positive for them. The downtime appears to have given Summers and his collaborator Benjamin Weikel time to investigate other styles of music, making "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" the band's most diverse album so far. The indie-electronica of previous albums is still here, but now it's joined by Dylan-esque folk music, straightforward psych-pop, and more organic sounding noise-rock. This results in an album that is still pretty disjointed and all over the place, but its at least a lot more interesting than their previous efforts.

Broken Afternoon, for instance, is a track that sounds another world away from the band's previous work. A whiskey-soaked acoustic ballad, it features nary a note of electronic accompaniment, instead relying on what sounds like a pair of beat-up old acoustic guitars to create mood. Summers' raw, rambling vocal fits this style of music almost perfectly, opening up interesting possibilities for the band's future. On the other hand, songs like You Can Come To Me are built around bright, cheery sounding electronica, the sort of thing you might hear out of an early '90s video game, the conspicuously artificial sounding noise providing an interesting contrast with the acoustic guitarwork in other tracks.

For purists, there are songs that sound like the band of old, The Captive Mind has a stuttering electronic beat and guitar work that's drenched in a nice thick layer of delay and reverb. These sort of songs sound a whole lot better when they're not stacked back to back as they previously were, and they are well-constructed and produced enough that they never threaten to become bland and anonymous.

Despite the incredible advances in creating an album that's worth listening to the whole way through, at times this album still feels a little piecemeal, as if it's not sure whether it wants to stick with the whole dream pop thing or move onto new territory. This is addressed somewhat in the final song of the album, where the new acoustic style of the band is mixed with some harmonica, a trademark gimmick of the band's old style. It's a very good contrast, and if the band can mix the two styles like this on their next album, it will be something very special indeed.