Goat – Commune

This mysterious Swedish collective certainly got chins-a-wagging in 2012, thanks to the sheer scope of their all-action psych-rock. This second LP picks up where debut World Music left off, picking purposefully at the same threads of pulsating hypno-groove. Caught unawares, you might mistake the San Francisco vibes of To Travel The Path Within for pure retro pop, yet amidst Commune’s wired and wonderful textures, it feels infinitely more complex than that.

Listen long enough and this record will do strange things to your mind – the Eastern-tinged guitar motifs of opener Talk To Gods don’t really alter much throughout the course of the song, but towards the last of its six minutes, they seem to unravel chaotically, strapping onto your synapses and pulling them down into the heart of the groove. By the time Gathering Of Ancient Tribes rolls around, they’re bordering on the transcendental – enigmatic, ebullient music that feels like its best secrets are buried tantalisingly within. [Will Fitzpatrick]