- UK indie act, The Horrors are something of an anomaly on the musical landscape. When they first emerged in 2007 with their gothic, garage debut, Strange House, very few music journalists gave the ‘style over substance’ persona of the band a second thought. Seemingly undeterred, The Horrors took everyone by surprise with the moody psych pop follow-up, Primary Colours, and by the time their Mercury Prize nominated third album, Skying had rolled around, the band’s naysayers went into serious back-tracking mode.

The dramatic stylistic changes between each album may have forced people to pay attention to The Horrors, but it also created an expectation that they were a band that would be continually reinventing the wheel with each release. It is for that reason that their latest album, Luminous is instantly a little deflating. Although the early singles probably should have served as a warning, it was still surprising to hear a release from The Horrors that is sonically quite similar to one of their other records. Having said that, once that initial hurdle is taken in, you get the sense that the band has finally found a sound that they want to settle into and explore in more nuanced ways.

Opening track, Chasing Shadow begins with a three-minute instrumental introduction, filled with layered electronic experimentations with a bongo driven beat and the occasional birdcall. It may seem like a risk, to try and hook listeners with an instrumental section, but the build up to the fantastic moment the beat drops and the vocals cut in justifies everything.

Other tracks such as First Day of Sprint and In And Out of Sight pick up from almost exactly where Skying left off, albeit with an adjusted tempo and more synth melodies. Faris Badwan’s vocals are really the hero here, it’s hard to imagine what The Horrors would be without his edgy, unrefined style.

So Now You Know is the most recent single from Luminous, and although it's musically derivative, on balance it’s really just a great pop song, with a simple and catchy chorus: a ‘guilty pleasure’ in what is otherwise a far more mature album. The band are at their best in the middle of the record, with tracks like Jealous Sun and Falling Star: the light and dark tones of the melodies are brilliantly brought together with guitar effects and synth lines.

I See You was the album’s lead single, and at seven minutes long although it’s certainly tempting to stick with a radio edit and miss the last three minutes of instrumental outro, it’s a track that really brings all the elements of the album together.

Luminous is a cohesive and well-measured album where nothing feels unnecessary or overdone. It isn't a masterpiece: awkwardly overshadowed by its predecessor and some fairly reasonable preconceived ideas about what a new album from The Horrors should or shouldn’t do. If the band has settled into a sound, they’ve certainly played to their strengths, but long time fans will always be left wondering if they could have done more.

- Clare Armstrong.