Hen Ogledd

★★★ Free Humans WEIRD WORLD. CD/DL/LP More “avant-bangers” from the Richard Dawsonassociated quartet. Alongside disappointingly trad offerings of guitar, bass and drums, the credits for Hen Ogledd’s fourth album – though this line-up’s second – credits include celery bites, The Crayon, Aqueduct, Bubbletron and crisp packet. In a similar vein, they’ve enjoyed a free rein in the studio;

Free Humans lasts 80 minutes. Clearly, editing themselves goes against the grain of four musicians (avant-folk magus Richard Dawson, harpist Rhodri Davies, multi-taskers Dawn Bothwell and Sally Pilkington) who share a love of improvisation, but whose stated aim is to make pop music, and prolonged exposure to this scattershot approach can be exhausting. In smaller chunks, however, Free Humans is exhilarating, and unpredictably so: Trouble and Crimson Star are gorgeous and featherlight; Paul Is 9ft Tall is a winningly creepy lurcher; and the fluid, prog-minded Skinny Dippers provides a giddy finale. Martin Aston