SOUTH's sublime fourth album, YOU ARE HERE, (bluhammock music / Young American Recordings) is the sound of a band at its creative zenith, supremely confident in their craft, attentive to their muse, and thankful to their fans for what has been an exhilarating, two-decade-spanning career. South transcend the music industry’s vagaries (like fear, confusion, denial and self-loathing) as well as the latest leapt upon bandwagon (‘80s retreads, angsty emo, mindless nu rave, etc). Instead, the band’s modus operandi is an unremitting focus on their music – whether signed to a multinational or indie – whether licensed to an award-winning blockbuster like Sexy Beast, The O.C., or Six-Feet Under – or whether playing Glastonbury, Fabric, or the Mercury Lounge. Their methodology is a continued sonic exploration of melody, refracted through an eclectic palate of disparate genres and atmospherics, blowing by artificial distinctions made by radio programmers and so-called marketing geniuses.

"We couldn't make a record sound like something other than who we are," says Brett Shaw, South's drummer, multi-instrumentalist and You Are Here producer. "Making music to us is an art form. Producing music so more people will buy it isn't interesting to us. It would destroy the soul of our music." And without soul there would be no South. And also, perhaps, without King Crimson there would be no South. Not specifically the pioneering prog-rockers per se, but David Cross, who played with The Crimson from ‘72-‘74 and who was also the band's music teacher in the early ‘90s in London. It was Cross who allowed multi-instrumentalists Brett, Joel Cadbury and Jamie McDonald into the school rehearsal space at lunchtime and after school. "He was a great music teacher," Jamie recalls. And without his tutelage it is possible there would be no South.

Or perhaps all praise is due Peshay, the ‘90s drum 'n' bass DJ and Metalheadz member. Peshay, after all, was managed by John Brice, who also manages South and who, early in the band's career, connected the band to James Lavelle of Mo’ Wax records (home to DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Money Mark) . "John happened to have an early set of demos he gave to James Lavelle," McDonald explains, “James called back the next day." The demos were released as The 4-Track Sessions and right away the band began work at Wessex Studios on their cracking 2001 debut, From Here On In. Meticulously produced by Lavelle, From Here On In is a majestic hybrid of chunky rock rhythms, tender elegies, multifarious electronic instrumentation, space rock, orchestral flourishes and above all else, gorgeous soaring melodies that established the band’s steadfast non-denominational music approach. Critics and fans alike swooned before the 1-2-3-knockout punch of the dazzling "Paint the Silence," (the song played on The O.C. while Ryan and Marissa rode the Ferris wheel), the foot stomping "Keep Close," and slide-guitar blues ballad, "I Know What You’re Like."

But it was 2003's epochal With the Tides, produced by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Ash and, of course, Kylie Minogue) that brought South its greatest acclaim. With a more honed and lush approach, the band eschewed the electronic instrumentals for electrifying epiphanies. Songs like the revelatory "Colours in Waves" with Cadbury's mellifluous vocals wrapped in exploding dynamics, the bittersweet symphonic "Natural Disasters," and the transcendent "Same Old Story" made clear the London-based trio weren't a flash in the pan but a band of gifted musicians willing to take creative risks for massively rewarding sonic returns. A five-song limited-edition EP, Speed Up/Slow Down, presaged 2006's radiant Adventures in the Underground Journey to the Stars, an album of luminous melodies and brilliant songcraft. The band attained pop perfection on songs like "Up Close and Personal,” Flesh & Bone,” and "Safety in Numbers." They toured the US that spring with Something for Rockets and Margot & the Nuclear So and So's and afterwards released the concert CD/DVD package, Safety in Numbers: South's Tour Diary the same year.

South's You Are Here is their magnificent fourth full-length and the first album produced solely by Brett Shaw. This time out both James and Brett took a greater role in songwriting and singing. “It’s the album that most represents the individuals in the band,” says MacDonald, “and the influences we each bring.” While the band admits to listening to everything from LCD Soundsystem and Al Green to the Kings of Leon, Phoenix and The Clash, nothing can prepare you for the scope of You Are Here’s inspired musical reach. The swirling psychedelic pop opener “Wasted” is flawless and unclassifiable; the wistful and jangly first single, "Better Things" is the song Badly Drawn Boy wish he wrote; “The Pain" wouldn’t sound out of place on the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society if the Beach Boys were harmonizing; “She’s Half Crazy” sounds half like Bryan Ferry and half like an invitation for you to shake your ass on the dance floor; “Lonely Highs” somehow manages to mash Mariachi horns with Radiohead; and finally, “Zither” is a shimmering space rock ballad. “It’s quite difficult to pin down our style because all of our records have been so different,” says Joel. “I can’t really put it in a nutshell or even in a long winded speech – we make music from the heart, from the soul.” And that’s what sustained both South and their fans through all these years. You Are Here will be available in stores on April 29.