The album was recorded in two sessions. The first session (tracks 1-7) mainly has an ethereal, synth-drenched electronic instrumental feel to it with the second half (tracks 8-12) sounding a lot more melodic, and structured. When enjoyed properly, in certain places the album reaches beyond-human and plunges you into this mental brain freeze where Deerhunter's sonic ambience literally replaces thought. Clears your mind totally. In other places, the relentless bass drum dictates the movement of your hands/feet (or whatever you use to tap along), the stream-of-consciousness vocals fade and fly, the guitars dance and shimmer and occasionally the band even trip over their own tempos. But that's part of the beauty that this record has - it doesn't feel too pre-meditated, it follows gentle instinct... It's not perfectly performed in places, but that's what keeps it honest and helps to keep the album away from being a cold, harsh 'studio' document of sound.

To me, this is easily the best album of 2007 so far, the only thing I can hold against it being that the first half does sometimes drag on. Also, when in their more melodic moments, the band never really drift away from their initial themes and just continue to build and build. Although I would never want to trade the fragile style of songs like 'Spring Hall Convert', 'Hazel St.' or 'Strange Lights', I do think that Deerhunter's hypnotic instrumentals could've been traded for something more melodically diverse just to maintain your attention.

Still, although very inspired, this is a really fresh-sounding record and the more people it can embrace, the better. Look out for their forthcoming 'Fluroscent Grey' EP coming soon.

Craig Sharp