Since 2010's eponymous fourth album, New York's sharpest-dressed miserabilists have taken a lengthy hiatus and lost talismanic bassist Carlos Dengler and brief replacement David Pajo, while frontman Paul Banks has been solo and dabbling in rap. However, El Pintor finds Interpol returning to the sleek, monochrome post-punk that caused such an impact in the early 2000s. All the Rage Back Home and My Desire are pacy, confident openers that chime melodically. Banks has added frantically glowering basslines and a fleeting falsetto to his arsenal of mean, moody and melancholy baritones. Otherwise, it's business as usual, shrouded in the familiar sonic murk and gloom of the first two albums. Perhaps Banks's grumble that he "feels like the whole world is up on my shoulders" is more darkly tongue in cheek than he lets on, but there's little sign of the sunnier approach they spoke of in last week's Guardian. Still, most fans will be relieved: as Interpol power bleakly into in their 18th year, why should they cheer up?