Peace of mind is just one thing that is sustained by the power of this EP. ‘Circles’ proves to be the worthy audio catalyst to either a hard day or a rough night, and a fresh set of ears (so to speak) always helps too. From the opening ten seconds, the drums and acoustic guitars are soothing and refreshing, while also reminiscent of Radiohead’s ‘Hail To The Thief’, to be more specific, a track called ‘Where I End And Begin’ – a righteous nod to those who know it. DCLC actually pose a likeness in general to Yorke et al in terms of uncertainty and progression, however, they live up to their name with a brighter, less melancholy approach to their music too, and ‘Circles’ is a relative 50/50 split between the two settings, dark and light.

They have a solid understanding of instrumentation and texture, which is evident in ‘Robot Command Centre’ - a finely executed fusion of processed beats, bleeps and white noise with a healthy ensemble of Nick Drake-esque finger picked guitars, smooth brass and proper nice vocal harmonies complimenting the mix to a sickeningly sweet standard.

To praise further, the production on here is exceptional. Ex-God Machine producer Robin Proper-Sheppard (damn good name too) is partly behind this one, helping to give each track a different feel and aroma to it – take for example ‘They Be Underwater’, a relevantly titled little ditty, with stream-like ethereal effects at the start and reversed samples towards the end building the soundscape with excitement and intrigue until BANG… and the track is over, with an abrupt gunshot! (Apologies for sounding like Barry Scott of Cillit Bang advert fame)

A taster for their upcoming full-length apparently, so ears best kept peeled.

Allan Judkins

View the video for ‘Robot Command Centre’