Mystery Jets – Curve of the Earth

Those firing into Curve of the Earth expecting the same twinkly-eyed, danceable indie-pop as their seminal debut Making Dens (some ten years later, would you believe it) will need to cool their jets, so to speak. More slowly paced, and more sincere, Mystery Jets have matured out of that tricky mid-noughties adolescence.

Blood Red Balloon stands out as the clearest demonstration of their 70s influences, with infectious harmonies, guitar solos and a well considered structure, while Midnight's Mirror’s sexy basslines will seduce even the most casual listener. Apart from a few tonal blips (Taken By The Tide may well be a smuggled-in Band of Horses track, and 1985’s piano ballad proves an idling mid-point), Curve... is a remarkably slick experience, given it’s the first to be entirely self-produced by the Eel Pie Island gang (in a recording studio they built themselves in disused button factory, apparently). As frontman Blaine Harrison croons on closer The End Up, 'Won’t it be strange / to see how we change / when we’re all grown up?'