The Veils – Total Depravity

'How could you love me, babe, just to strip it all away?' laments Finn Andrews on In the Blood, a highlight of The Veils' excellent fifth album. As with much of the band's earlier work, Andrews leads from the front: a fearless troubador with tales to tell and a heart ever in need of mending.

This time around, production duties are shared with Run the Jewels' El-P, and with the band opting for looser grooves and a greater emphasis on beats and texture, it's a canny shift. So while the largely spoken word King of Chrome and Here Come the Dead spark with preacher-man conviction, it's the cool nu-soul leanings of Swimming With the Crocodiles that act as reminder that The Veils have never quite had their commercial or critical due.

Cross your fingers for them on this one: a soulful and bewitching brew, and a superlative demonstration of how to prod at your aesthetic without selling your soul.