Almost 15 years after deciding to make music under the mysterious sounding moniker Hood, brothers Chris and Richard Adams have released the widely appreciated "Outside Closer," their ninth album overall and fourth for Domino, perhaps the hippest U.K. label at the moment. Given the fickleness of the music business in general and the pathologically distracted character of the British pop-music industry in particular, it seems a miracle that Hood has survived this long without emerging from the shadows. Then again, no one has ever been able to pigeonhole their sound so they've at least been free to do what they want without disappointing anyone but themselves.

"The press?" Chris Adams says via his manager's cell phone. "Nobody pays attention to us in England. The culture there is one or two albums and then you disappear. I guess you could say we managed to weather the storm, but we've never gotten any notice from the music press, unless you count the underground press."

Somebody must be paying attention, though. By his own admission, "Outside Closer" has garnered a much better and bigger response than Adams expected, the main evidence being that Hood is presently in the middle of the longest tour of its career. As we talk, the group is unloading equipment for a concert in Hamburg. They're finishing up an extensive European tour after playing throughout the U.S. (where they had their tour money stolen in Portland) and will soon come to Japan, which they've never visited before.