Spectrals – Sob Story

Spectrals – the nom de plume of Yorkshire singer-songwriter Louis Jones – introduced his brand of lovelorn guitar pop on 2011’s promising Bad Penny, a strong debut that secured the then-21-year-old profile-raising support slots with the likes of Best Coast and Real Estate. But unlike said record’s proverbial namesake, his return is a welcome one - albeit with a caveat or two.

The first reservation is country-tinged ballad Friend Zone: musically elegant but lyrically whingey, its introspective rejection narrative proves rather too on the nose (“you probably think I’m really nice… you wouldn’t be seen dead with me”). The second miss is closer In a Bad Way, in which the title is repeated ad nauseam over a flat dirge, ending the album in, well, a bad way. But elsewhere, Jones finds his flair with faster, more dynamic tracks like the glam-echoing new wave of A Heartbeat Behind, which earns Sob Story its happy ending. [Chris Buckle]