It's been three years since The Helio Sequence's last album (2001's "Young Effectuals," on Portland's Cavity Search label). And that's three years too long. Finally and triumphantly, the Portland duo of Brandon Summers (guitars/vocals) and Benjamin Weikel (keyboards/drums) return with their third full-length, and first for Sub Pop, "Love and Distance." The time between albums has been well spent, logging several tours (Benjamin Weikel also lends his percussive skills to Modest Mouse, doubling the tour time), extensive hours of experimentation, and afternoons spent ?listening to a lot of pop, Dylan and Can.? More inventive than ever before, the new record finds The Helio Sequence armed with a surprising new instrumentation palette and buoyed by swift pop undercurrents, with this collision of electric and organic elements. Please welcome The Helio Sequence!