The new Nightowl Sings album is a indie pop jamboree knees-up drunk-on-Americana bash.

"The Nightowl Sings’ last outing, February’s “Lone Transmissions” E.P., was haunted and haunting - low-key, slow and evocative of war-torn Europe, Weimar Germany and Stalinist Russia, with lovers, artists and lost souls searching for romance, hope and beauty in a cold, cold climate. Perhaps it was the return of the spooky piano, but the general mood was chilly and unsettling.

As fond as we are of that piano, it’s nowhere to be heard on this new release. In fact, this is the Nightowl’s most immediate and accessible record yet – an exuberant, inventive, charming and confident pop album, though not without a hint of melancholy, particularly in the few slower, reflective stretches.

For the first half of its length, though, reflection is not on the cards. The first three tracks – “Moscow”, “We Dream in Sound”, and “On Fire” rattle by without stopping for breath, 3 cracking tunes in a row. The title track is more measured, with a slow-burn dynamic and a touch of melodrama. These are tunes high on their own invention and dazzling in their mastery of various pop styles. There’s alt-country, post punk, indie-pop and psychedelia. This is where the Byrds, the Bunnymen, Buzzcocks and sundry other familiar faces wander about in not so familiar surroundings. By this point, it feels like a greatest hit’s collection – each of these tracks has the word “single” running through its grooves and, in my part of the universe, they’d all be number one records.

“Too High to Fly (Too Sad to Talk)” is a bit of a genre-bender – nineties indie pop with traces of “Ghost Town”-era Specials and (to these ears) ”Combat Rock”-era Clash before the backward guitar kicks in and it all gets a bit psyche (you might hear this differently, that's what ears are for). “Colours Are Bright” follows – a lovely instrumental, both hopeful and wistful, a bright autumn day with the possibility of a sudden shower never too far away. “Modern Lovers” starts off slowly, not so much Jonathan Richman as 3rd album Velvets, before the gloves come off and the Stooges, Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart and others all go into the blender, with not quite the results you would expect. “Woodtrippin” is the album’s fifth hit single – the Meat Puppets and Blur (on “Blur”) take a drunken walk through the forest and decide not to come back. “Faithful As Sin” – which sounds like a hipster lullaby - brings the album to a mellow, enigmatic and completely satisfying close. Then you play the album again.

Despite the comparisons, these references are only meant to give an idea of some of the flavours and treats on offer here – this really only sounds like The Nightowl Sings (or at least what he chooses to sound like today). I’m sure the next record will be totally different but, for now, this deft, diverse and delightful collection will keep all of us Modern Lovers, Sound-dreamers and Woodtrippers on fire and more than happy until the Nightowl sings again." - David Thompson.