Mercury Rev – The Light In You

Seven years after the dreamy Snowflake Midnight, Mercury Rev have plundered the toolkit which has served them so well in almost 25 years of recording. At its finest, The Light In You provides some moments of wide-eyed wonder, the kind of which have been scattered throughout their long career. Opening track Queen of the Swans leads in the orchestral head of steam, with the theme threaded throughout.

Autumn in the Air, with brass, bells, swirling strings and elegiac lyricism, is majestic, and the shimmering Coming Up for Air is stunning. This is the grandest record Mercury Rev have made, laden with huge crescendos, which on unfortunate occasion tend to blend into one, rendering events a touch repetitive and nebulous. When they get it right, though, they nail it with gusto. And for those moments, The Light In You is a worthy addition to a towering back catalogue. [Finbarr Bermingham]