Grasscut – Unearth

Grasscut’s follow-up to 2010’s 1 Inch: ½ Mile is accompanied by a book of pinhole camera photographs, and is also available - in an entirely different, remixed form – on a sequence of cassettes hidden in various geographical locations around England, with the first fan to find all ten tapes able to decode a secret message which will win them a performance by the band in their own home. The tracks reference TS Eliot, Philip Larkin, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Agatha Christie, and guest vocalists include Robert Wyatt of Soft Machine.

Ignoring the arguably pompous, pretentious overtones of the album’s genesis and inspiration, it is a good thing the music speaks for itself – joyful and melodic, with an epic sweep, Grasscut make Animal Collective-esque experimental indie with electronic influences that at times recalls Boards Of Canada, at others cLOUDDEAD. It’s a bit twee, undoubtedly over-complicated in its ambition, and seemingly determined to be an album aimed at middle-aged Guardian readers with a fondness for early Warp Records, but it works nonetheless.