Another three year gap passed following the release of Can Cladders before the Llamas delivered 2011’s Talahomi Way, their fourth effort for Drag City.

In many ways, this album represented the culmination of a decade-long evolution for the band. Although O’Hagan has repeatedly named Talahomi Way, along with Snowbug, as his favorite Llamas album, it also represented a point where he felt the band had to evolve. In an interview with Paul McDermott, he recalled that following the album’s release, he had to “somehow make a record a different way”, leading to the left turns the band have taken from the sounds that dominated Beet Maize & Corn, Can Cladders and Talahomi Way with every album since.

The Brazilian influences that colored Snowbug return here, as do an increased emphasis on horns. Fly Baby Fly was widely touted as a highlight, becoming a live staple and the band’s most popular on streaming. Jeremy Glogan returned to provide his third cover artwork for the band. According to a 2016 interview, the structure on the front was inspired by a bike shed in Singapore, while the overall layout (designed by Drag City co-founder Dan Osborne) was intended as a tribute to The Sound of Music.  

Talahomi Way was released by Drag City in April 2011. The band marked the release with a series of interviews with key influence Van Dyke Parks (previously namechecked on Beet, Maize & Corn’s The Holly Hills) released via Drag City on Youtube. The album’s vinyl release has gone out of print since it’s release, leading to inflated prices on the second hand-market.