To be honest, have never quite been able to connect with the music of Mystery Jets, for one reason or another. However, one has to admire the manner in which this English band has stuck to their guns and followed the pop-rock muse, wherever it might have led them.

The textured choruses are strong, the rhythms are stylistically diverse and there’s a genuine old-fashioned detail in the arrangements.

“Midnight Mirror” is an example – faux-reggae beats, acoustic guitars, atmospheric synths, an infectious refrain, Blaine Harrison’s falsetto vocals at the forefront & ghostly echoes in the fadeout.

The ambitious ballad, “1985” is the kind of songwriting all too rare on modern rock playlists – it hearkens back to a time (actually a decade before the title itself) when audiences gave a damn about emotional resonance and sophisticated harmonic invention.

And the highs remain consistent throughout this nine track album, an attention to sonic detail that pays off tremendously  – the way the soaring chorus segues into a metallic guitar riff before floating back into the Floydian verse on “Taken By the Tide” is simply breath-taking. Or what about the stack o’ vocals harmonies which flow through the mid-tempo “Saturnine”, not to mention the psychedelic country-folk-rock vibe of “The End Up”. Bliss!

It’s January but there’s little doubt that Curve of the Earth is already one of the essential pop-rock LPs of 2016! 

Now if only an album of this kind can receive the commercial success and attention that it truly deserves. Let’s bring rock ‘n’ roll back from the dead!!