This midnight trek has quite a lot in common with where they’ve come from: you may notice the pair have sneakily held on to some of their old songs, now featuring in their debut full-length, Figures In Sight. As far back as 2014, a number like Caprice could’ve given you a good idea of what to expect from the album. That rich and lustrous guitar sound reminds me of the reverberant Silverface Twin and Strat sound that Chris Isaak has charmed us with. The rest of Glitter Veils’ formula is quite different though: the muffled vocals are more akin to some gothic horror, a la Bauhaus. Actually, when you factor in the greater use of electronics: synths and drum machines that appear in the more recent chapters of this work and the carefully restrained, minimal aesthetic of their deployment, I was getting stylish shivers of Suicide coming across.

Glitter Veils aren’t relentless though: this isn’t the harshly abrasive work of My Disco or even the endless, dark grey vistas of HTRK. Perhaps it’s because there’s so many years worth of material on Figures In Sight, this is a record that is constantly changing. It does so with a commanding confidence. Sax solos here, acoustic guitar there, lushly echoing string sections and suddenly fluting, falsetto vocals. There’s all of the murky imagination that you’ll find in the likes of Lost Animal or Nicolas Jaar and it’s put to work with the same level of expertise.

Sometimes you’ll see an Aussie band signing to a taste-making overseas label and think, oh wow, are they going to be able to make that work? I never doubt Glitter Veils for a second. At about this time last year I was being wowed by Gabriella Cohen’s Full Closure. No Details. For many of the same reasons I am as excited by Figures In Sight. I hope Glitter Veils can get out on the US college circuit and build a big reputation, they’re certainly worth it. This is going to be one of 2017’s significant Australian releases, critically. I hope audiences can get behind it, too. Australia should really own music this good.

- Chris Cobcroft.