After a several year hiatus, Kraut/funk/electronica heroes Fujiya & Miyagi are back with their darkest and most propulsive set yet. The band’s fourth full-lengther, Ventriloquizzing, was released on Yep Roc Records.

Apparently starved for the band’s singular deadpan funk, the critics are already weighing in with Pitchfork posting the first mp3 “Sixteen Shades of Black & Blue” and Stereogum posting a large feature on the recording process.

“Sixteen Shades of Black & Blue” is immediately identifiable as Fujiya & Miyagi thanks to David Best’s distinctively subtle, monotone delivery and highlights the album’s dark heart with throbbing electro-glam beat and menacing lyrics. The band is set for live dates in London and Paris in early December and N. American dates in early 2011.

Demoed in Brighton, UK and recorded in Sacramento and Los Angeles, Ventriloquizzing marks the first time the band – comprising David Best, Stephen Lewis, Matthew Hainsby and Lee Adams – have worked with a co-producer. The title goes to Thom Monahan, whose previous credits include groundbreaking folk albums from Devendra Banhart, The Silver Jews and Vetiver.

But Fujiya & Miyagi haven’t gone folky, and nor has the California sun injected Surf City spirit – this album finds them moodier, darker and deeper than ever before. “We wanted to make a record that was musically darker and had more going on than our previous LPs,” says David. “This record is its own thing. It’s far less indebted to any past influences than our previous records and in my opinion it is all the better for it.”