A decade after making background music that wound up in the foreground at Fare Thee Well, Circles Around the Sun return with Interludes for the Dead: Volume 2. 

And while these seven tracks are not literal interludes for the Dead, as a Core Four reunion is now impossible, Volume 2 picks up where the original, Neal Casal-led Interludes left off. With new guitarist John Lee Shannon accompanying bassist Dan Horne, drummer Mark Levy, keyboardist Adam MacDougall and guest percussionist Andres Renteria, the seven instrumental tracks running 80 minutes are aural rocket fuel. 

Improvised live across four days in the studio, the music finds the band recalling the melody- and groove-centered approach of Interludes and forsaking the rhythm-based, disco-leaning approach of subsequent work. 

Flecks of familiar Grateful Dead melodies – and much of the band’s ethos; “Starburn” features a “Space” coda – are sprinkled into the songs that run as long as 20 minutes on “Charleston Choogle.” Lest IFTD2 sound too Grateful, CATS pull a switcheroo as the album comes home, borrowing from Alan Parsons Project’s “I Robot” for “Radiant Radish” and Bob James’ “Angela (Theme from Taxi)” on “Vol du Nuit.” 

Be careful listening to this music in the car–you’re liable to find yourself driving 100 mph.