Brothers and sisters sound the siren, the long-awaited return of Wolfmother is well and truly upon us. It is official, the transcendental dreamweavers return with a wonderfully ambitious new record, Cosmic Egg. After the whirlwind journey the band went on with the Wolfmother album, a voyage that resulted in over one million sales, sold out riots disguised as shows the world over, multiple ARIA Awards and a Grammy, the time has arrived to break the self-imposed silence.

Following the extensive gestation period and the enlistment of new band members, Wolfmother (Andrew Stockdale [Vocals/Guitar], Ian Peres [Bass/Keys], Aidan Nemeth [Guitar], Dave Atkins [Drums]), along with producer Alan Moulder, travelled to Byron Bay, Australia, to begin pre-production. Moulder meanwhile brought a giant hessian sack of worldly producer experience to the table, filled of milestone works from the likes of My Bloody Valentine, The Smashing Pumpkins, Ride and Nine Inch Nails.

From there the process transplanted to Los Angeles for recording proper to commence, a location that added another dimension of rich experience to Cosmic Egg. It's the perfect place to make magic from one's own mind, a fact concisely reinforced in the resultant 50-odd minute suite.

Cosmic Egg bolts the gamut from "New Moon Rising" to the open road riffing of "California Queen," from the thumping groove of "Fields" to the heaving sludge of "10,000 Feet" and back via the Rhodes-led lament of "Far Away." The title track sounds like the kind of carefree goodtime you'd have hoped for from Wolfmother II, while "Phoenix" too echoes of the debut record whilst sounding wonderfully reinvigorated.

The title Cosmic Egg relates to the age-old black hole theory of optimism, wherein the implosion of a star doesn't instigate a disappearance or destruction, rather a new beginning of a new universe. Cosmic Egg is, in short, the sound of the Wolfmother world being rethunk and cracked wide open, with a sprawling, jubilant galaxy of musical and metaphysical harmony spilling forth. Expedition is welcome to all.