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** Hooverphonic

THE MAGNIFICENT TREE

(Columbia)

Since 1997, the Belgian trio Hooverphonic have released three albums, all built from the same basic foundation of icy strings, fragile female vocals as forceful as a wintry wind sweeping through a bare forest, and effect-laden guitars reverberating through lethargic, almost labored, beats. Here the group branch out, bringing more-pedestrian pop arrangements into their mix of trip-hop grooves and bittersweet breakbeats. Singer Geike Arnaert, the group’s second singer, returns after her debut on 1998’s Blue Wonder Power Milk, and her ice-princess delivery is a perfect match for the cold soundscape and stuttered samples of the opening “Autoharp.” When her cool façade melts away, as it does on torchy tracks like “Vinegar & Salt,” her detachment evaporates, and so does the effectiveness of her melodramatic theatrics. “Waves” brings back the symphonic splendor of Blue Wonder, and “Jackie Cane” echoes the reverb-laden James Bond fantasy of that album’s “Club Montepulciano.” But “Mad About You” sounds like a generic Sneaker Pimps or Mono knockoff, and “Frosted Flake Wood,” which comes off like an outtake from a bad modern retelling of Peter and the Wolf, is a poor attempt to re-create the creeping nocturnal orchestrations Björk has favored of late.

— Tony Ware