Six. By Seven – Love and Peace and Sympathy

Following a brief spell in the limelight in the late 90s with their debut The Things We Make – a record which sat somewhere between Britpop’s darker, angst-ridden edges and Mogwai-style anthemic post-rock – Nottingham’s Six. By Seven spent a decade in relative obscurity. Following a drummerless period, Steve Hewitt (Boo Radleys, Placebo) is now behind the kit: Sympathy therefore marks a new phase of sorts, although the band’s familiar take on reverb-heavy, swirling rock remains more or less unchanged.

While the influence of acts like Spacemen 3 remains obvious, Sympathy possesses an impressive emotive power: main songwriter Chris Olley is not afraid to explore expansive rock structures, particularly on the tumultuous nine-minute epic Truce. That willingness to embrace the unfashionable probably explains Six. By Seven’s decline in popularity, but it also illustrates their unwavering belief in their sound; this could be the record that reaches a new audience, repaying that faith.