This is the second album from London trio The Invisible, and celebrates a move to pastures new at Ninja. Although their debut for Matthew Herbert’s Accidental label impressed, this operates at a much higher level musically, honing the potential shown to come up with concentrated, emotional songs and deep beats. Influences from the contrasting points of spirituals and Talk Talk are brought together to make music of deep intensity with a strong percussive backbone. As a snapshot, ‘Generational’ is meditative, ‘Wings’ carries an airy texture with reassuring weight, while ‘Lifeline’, where Dave Okumu sings of how ‘chemicals flood my brain’, evokes humid atmospherics. Okumu‘s voice is another key ingredient of this most expressive and impressive album, which takes the music of the Invisible to greater heights and should, in all honesty, secure them a second successive Mercury Prize nomination.
5 out of 5
(Ben Hogwood)
