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Founded in 2007 on a hotbed of acid-folk, post-punk and other inputs, Hi Science Fiction have maintained their sense of curiosity, and their second, self-produced effort sees them bring the resulting ideas together in a more streamlined, cohesive manner than on their debut record.

Sure, it doesn’t always gel effectively, but at its height Curious Yellow will transport you to deserted moorland, via the Far East, while keeping one foot in an electronica-fuelled urban landscape. Digitalis casts the musical ball into play, falling somewhere between Portishead and Arabian Nights. Trip-hop beats, electronic lines and soothing melodies call to mind Zero 7’s trippier edges, though there’s a hint of Mostly Autumn-style romance in the bucolic tones of Magpies (Against The Sun), if with greater worldly mystique. Circles In Halftone showcases vocalist Maria Charles’ crystal-clear ‘pagan queen’ warbles (like an Emily Brontë novel fed through a big sequencer). 1000 Nights is pretty if soupy, wandering off like a happy hitch-hiker on mushrooms. But for a pleasingly intoxicating, sensory but sharp musical trip, you’d be wise to look here.

Via Cherry Red

Polly is deputy editor at Classic Rock magazine, where she writes and commissions regular pieces and longer reads (including new band coverage), and has interviewed rock's biggest and newest names. She also contributes to Louder, Prog and Metal Hammer and talks about songs on the 20 Minute Club podcast. Elsewhere she's had work published in The Musician, delicious. magazine and others, and written biographies for various album campaigns. In a previous life as a women's magazine junior she interviewed Tracey Emin and Lily James – and wangled Rival Sons into the arts pages. In her spare time she writes fiction and cooks.