The Waifs - Temptation

Australian folk/rock trio The Waifs are a long way from Down Under lately with all three core singing and songwriting members -- Josh Cunningham and sisters Donna Simpson and Vikki Thorn -- now living separate lives stateside in Utah, L.A. and St. Paul. But when they reunited last November in the Twin Cities to record their sixth studio album since 1996, the three rekindled the special chemistry that has brought them platinum sales in the homeland and numerous Arias (the Aussie Grammy). "As if by moving, literally, so far from each other, our music has come back together," says Thorn. "We have found our sound, our voices, our rhythms again..."

Where their last album, 2007's Sun, Dirt, Water, boasted an expanded production, Temptation (April 26, Compass) was approached with a sparer sound in mind, keeping the songs as simply textured and direct as possible. It also brought out a more diverse writing perspective as a fairly even spread of songs from the three tunesmiths ironically yielded an album that Thorn described as "less disparate" than some earlier works. The resulting tracks range from the bluesy, slide-driven opener "I Learn The Hard Way" to the rambling folk shuffle "Just Like Me" and upbeat jangle and tight vocal harmonies of "Falling." But it is the slow building, mesmerizing "Buffalo" that proved to be the icing on the cake for us, a Thorn-penned-and-sung track with gorgeous guitar work that begged for a replay (or three).

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The Waifs - "Buffalo" (from the album Temptation)

The Waifs - "Angela" (bonus track from the Temptation sessions)

The Waifs (including rhythm section: drummer David Ross Macdonald and bassist Ben Franz.