It’s been seven years since Garbage’s last album — 2005’s Bleed Like Me — and for most of that time it was unclear whether the band would ever record together again. So the announcement of this year’s Not Your Kind of People was a pleasant surprise.

The sound of this album is similar to that of the band’s self-titled debut — hard-edged grunge with a splash of techno. On subsequent albums, Garbage dabbled in genre flourishes such as 50s pop and punk, but they’ve always been most comfortable in this mode.

I knocked Keane earlier this week for delivering a watered down version of their first album, and I could see how the same criticism might apply to Not Your Kind of People. These songs aren’t as good as early Garbage. But after the long hiatus, that hardly matters. It’s like seeing an old friend after a decade’s absence. He’s older, a little worse for wear, but it’s a thrill to spend some time together again.

Garbage has always written songs for outsiders and this album is perhaps their most direct exploration of that territory. The title song is told from the perspective of a societal outcast — one of the freaks who shows up in today’s SOTD. ‘Beloved Freak’ is the closing track and a fitting encapsulation of the album’s theme.

Lead singer and lyricist Shirley Manson has been shining a light on the outcasts for 17 years now and perhaps never so lovingly as she does here.