Bedouin Soundclash, (right to left) Jay Malinowski, Eon Sinclair and Sekou Lumumba (new drummer) hang out near Manic Coffee in Toronto Sept 23rd, 2010. (Dave Abel/QMI Agency)

Toronto-based reggae-pop band Bedouin Soundclash have come out of their self-imposed hiatus with a new drummer, a new album -- Light the Horizon -- and a slightly altered sound.

Previous drummer Pat Pengelly left the group in January 2009 and lead singer-guitarist Jay Malinowski released a solo album, Bright Lights & Bruises, earlier this year so the future of the group was up in the air.

"We just needed some time to step back from what we were doing," said Malinowski, seated beside bassist Eon Sinclair and drummer Sekou Lumumba recently in a Toronto coffee shop.

"We started cleaning house on every level of the band, with the lineup, with who we worked. (The problem was) I think we just stopped paying attention."

Pengelly's departure came after the group -- who all met while attending Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. -- broke through when their second album, 2004's Sounding a Mosaic, spawned the huge hit When the Night Feels My Song. Their follow-up record, 2007's Street Gospels, didn't do as well.

"It was probably a dramatic ending in some ways," said Malinowski. "I think it was more of conversation that me and Eon still wanted to play music together and we didn't want to play music in the situation we were in. So we had a conversation, 'Well, why don't we start a new band? Or let's just take a break.' So at that moment, we were like, 'No, we've worked really hard for this so it's time we take it back to me and Eon together.' And with the lineup that it was, it just didn't fit."

The two remaining members auditioned new drummers in Toronto and Lumumba made his official debut playing with them at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February. Bedouin Soundclash's new lineup start a cross-Canada tour on Thursday in Ottawa, stopping in most major cities before wrapping up in Victoria on Dec. 1.

Lumumba, who had seen Bedouin Soundclash previously and knew them "as one of the best known bands in the country," said the three of them really gelled in the studio.

"Jay came with a batch of new songs and we started fleshing them out, and the more we started actually working on new material and creating songs together, and just adding on to what we'd already done. It just became more exciting for everyone involved to really dig in and feel like they were a part of something," he said.

Another left turn was that legendary musicologist/electronic producer King Britt was on board to produce Light the Horizon in Philadelphia.

"This record is really like a new band to me," said Malinowski. "I'm most proud of this record than anyone we've done. Not just because of what we had to go through, but because I think we're getting more to a place where were getting something unique, very much our own on this record. I don't think anyone else but the three of us could make it. And it's future-oriented. It gives us a lot of hope to want to keep playing."

Sinclair said the group, previously known for "a reggae-based, positive, upbeat, happy all the time" sound, also got to explore darker aspects on the new disc.

"Jay wrote a lot of songs that were really introspective whether it was about him or us or the band or things going on around us. And by doing that I think it drew out what we're capable of doing as musicians. That's where it was really advantageous to have someone like Sekou playing because he's a really dynamic player, the way he plays his instrument, and he's very tasteful in terms of not just playing the drums because they're there but making the sounds that are necessary. And when you're trying to convey a gritty element or a darker emotion, that's really important."

jane.stevenson@sunmedia.ca