New Music - Wild Beasts 'Albatross' (Domino Records, 2011)

Wild Beasts have been something of a slow-burner for me, only coming to them well after their last album 'Two Dancers' and the addictive pleasures of 'Hooting And Howling' which did enough to make its way into my year-end compilation Baubles 2010.

Very much ploughing their own furrow, seemingly in isolation from the rest of any recognisable 'scene' (a bit like British Sea Power in that respect - must be something in the water up in Kendal), Wild Beasts contain echoes of The Associates, Kate Bush, Roxy Music.

New single 'Albatross' was made available early as part of Record Store Day and I managed to procure a copy of the 7" with a nice fold-out poster sleeve.

It's a deceptively simple song set around a processional drum beat, a staccato guitar part and austere sliding banks of bass synth. Singer Hayden Thorpe lays down a typically unique vocal and the song gains an irrestible momentum. Restrained but addictive.

Can't wait for the new album. Pre-orders being taken on the Domino website.

Wild Beasts - Albatross by DominoRecordCo