A Fever Dream

It’s been two years since the Mancunian lot released their last album Get To Heaven and now they release fourth album Fever Dream via RCA. For aficionados, there’s less leaping from time-signature to time-signature and more emphasis on being direct, but that doesn’t mean predictable. Lead-off single Can’t Do feels built for communal sweat of playing live while Desire arrives with the sort of chorus that fills stadiums. To get to these, you have to through album opener Night of the Long Knives. It’s a slow-burn, but a rewarding one that heralds the more synth-heavy direction of the album. There’s plenty of guitar, too, but this is an album of layers and textures. The title track is, frankly, gorgeous: a Gregorian chorus giving way to plangent piano and vocals before a hypnotic dance-vibe drops and kicks the hook skywards. It gets a little loose for me as we head down the stretch, but this is definitely more than just a contender. (Exposed Mag).

LP - Housed in Gatefold Sleeve with Big Booklet.