The Avalanches – Wildflower

16 years (count 'em!) since their sample-structured neon masterpiece Since I Left You – Paul's Boutique as filtered through big beat and the Cartoon Network – The Avalanches unexpectedly re-emerge. Rather than overthink their place in 2016's brave new world, instead the Melbourne collective aim to get us out of our minds: a colourfully woozy effort, Wildflower is equally in thrall to daisy age hip-hop and ornate psychedelia.

There are obvious highlights: the radio-singalong effects on Because I'm Me; Biz Markie's wilfully silly turn on The Noisy Eater; Danny Brown's mid-song rap amidst The Wozard of Iz's pastoral grooves. Even comeback single Frankie Sinatra proves to be as addictive an earworm as it's initially underwhelming, while the voices of Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev) and Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux) provide a suitably wracked icing to Wildflower's slow-hitting spacecake. 

At 20 tracks long, however, it takes some serious listening to get through the whole thing, and a sense of sag in the latter third threatens to overpower on the first few spins. Essentially, this flower could've used a little more judicious pruning.