JIM NOIR

AM Jazz DOOK

8/10

First for five years from Mancunian maverick

The Beatlesque textures of 2014’s Finnish Line evoked more traditional pop pleasures than usual, but here this reliably unpredictable songwriter has relapsed into a trippier, dreamier mood, accompanied by analogue synths, west-gazing harmonies and some of his most seductive melodies to date. The sweet psychedelic soul of “Hexagons” is the closest to the laid-back lounge feel suggested by the album’s title, then elsewhere wafts of Air’s chaise-longue futurism can be felt on “Tol Circle”. There’s also a wonderfully warm, woozy quality to the lo-fi electronica of “Upside Down”, complemented by Noir’s delicately blues-tinged vocal lines.