Instrumental trio Dirty Three could have taken the easy option and added a singer at various turns in their career. But where's the fun in that?

The Melbourne band - comprising Warren Ellis (violin), Mick Turner (electric guitar) and Jim White (drums) - have built a devoted fan base for their raw avant-garde jams.

"As soon as you put a lyric on top it dictates where the song goes," says Ellis, who also plays in Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Grinderman.

"Just by laying down a few words it makes the instruments more of an accompanying thing and because Dirty Three have never done that, it's given us a lot more space to take liberties with the music."

Yet when it came to recording Toward The Low Sun, the band's eighth studio album in 19 years, Dirty Three faced a dilemma in their number.

Increasingly aware of the musical restrictions faced by a trio, the band discussed ways of playing around the limits of their instruments.

The idea of introducing guest musicians to the fray was put forward - a move that wouldn't have been entirely revolutionary.

Dirty Three included the piano playing talents of Nick Cave on the European tour for their 1998 album Ocean Songs and flirted with a bass player during another concert series.

On their last studio album, 2005's Cinder, the band went so far as to incorporate murky vocal recordings from Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, and Sally Timms of The Mekons on a couple of the songs.

Yet rather than push forward with an expanded sound on the new album, Dirty Three looked to revive the art-rock vision that first bonded them in a Melbourne pub almost two decades ago.

Toward The Low Sun is a return to form in more ways than one, an album that blossoms into life from skeletal ideas. For Ellis, the band's restraint proved critical.

"It's okay for us to add something for a small amount of time but in the end it only highlights how drastically it changes everything," says Ellis.

"Perhaps it would have been easier with more but for us it's all about the challenge we set ourselves those years ago and we're pretty stubborn about that."

Harking back to the rawness of the band's first releases, the new album has garnered impressive reviews but it's not where they are at their happiest.

For a fuller experience, Dirty Three are returning for a 10-date tour of Australia and New Zealand in March, including a show at the Sydney Opera House.

"If there's something exciting or new going on with the band it's happening when we play live," says Ellis.

"It was how we started and it's the first place I gravitate towards when I think about Dirty Three."

Toward The Low Sun is out now. Dirty Three tour nationally from March 9-23.