The Grand Gestures – Third

From monochrome artwork to functional title, The Grand Gestures' third album in three years deviates little from the mould cast by parts one and two, yet tops the trilogy with its most satisfying instalment. As before, ringleader Jan Burnett has crafted a spread of lo-fi instrumentals and invited collaborators to add vocals – and once more, a top-drawer offering from Sparrow and the Workshop’s Jill O’Sullivan sits proudly at the top of the track-listing.

Elsewhere, Sanjeev Kohli also makes it three-for-three, though his latest portion of darkly comic spoken word is perhaps the album’s one show of fatigue: having walked a similarly silly/sinister line on each prior contribution, the storytelling has lost some bite. Luckily, refreshment is supplied by debutants Gary Clark (emoting over ghostly piano chimes) and The Hazey Janes’ Andrew Mitchell (on the softly sublime Into the Darkness We Go): just two arguments for extending the GG franchise a little longer.