Outside of right after the original band break up roughly a decade ago an Eve 6 return album always seemed possible. Between now and then in different years it seemed more or less likely to happen but it always remained possible. After a long period away, guitarist Jon Siebels reunited with Max Collins and Tony Fagenson and that really was the final piece to make the release of a new album a certainty. Teaming up with their old producer Don Gilmore, Eve 6 worked on an album throughout 2011 and finally the long awaited fourth Eve 6 album, Speak in Code has been released.
Speak in Code has a wide variety of songs on it. The easy way out of describing the record is calling it a modernized version of Horrorscope, but it's a lot more than that. To get a closer grasp on the record you have to examine the songs themselves and where they came from. “Victoria” is a song that Max wrote years ago when he was suspicious that his girlfriend was cheating on him. “Pick Up the Pieces” was one of the songs that Max and Tony had when they were working on the obscurely-named Sugi Tap project. “Lost and Found” is a song that the band had been performing for years. This album is one of the most uniquely positioned records ever, because although it's a band's fourth record- it's more like a debut album because it's a collection of songs that they've been gathering for over five years.
Other than where these songs were written there are some other interesting qualities about the album. Collins' unique lyric writing is always going to be the defining characteristic of this band, but guitarist Jon Siebels has always been a key cog in the Eve 6 machine. Horrorscope is his best album because he has a collection of solos and parts on that album that are his own unique style. Speak in Code resembles that album because, again, he's got another collection of cool solos. In the years that have passed since It's All In Your Head came out, you can tell that he's developed his style. His guitar work here is part Horrorscope here, but it's mixed with an old-school rock type sound. It turns out to be something really unique.
Speak in Code probably won't end up being the fan-favorite Eve 6 album, but it brings to light how much these guys have been missed. Personally, I missed how these guys sound together. I missed Collins' abstract lyrics and his killer vocal. I missed Siebels' guitar style and I missed how Fagenson more than adequately held them together. I also missed Don Gilmore's ability to bring this sound out of this band. It wouldn't be and Eve 6 return album if he wasn't producing. Bottom line is it's good to have the band back with a collection of songs that both tells us what's been happening recently and what has happened the decade they were away.