The Machine Room – Love From A Distance EP

Edinburgh’s The Machine Room resemble a morning-after Delphic; they won’t necessarily make you dance, but their romantic melancholy could comfortably soundtrack time spent rueing drunken mistakes and missed chances.

On opener Cost of Progress, John Bryden’s falsetto flirts with Mew over cold-packed guitar, while Your Head on the Floor Next Door is, lyrics aside, Love from a Distance’s highlight – a pace-dropping, New Order-indebted slice of electro balladry.

Their compatriot tracks also earn their place – Camino De Soda’s sparkly melody confirms it the natural choice for single status, while Picking Holes closes on a suitably grandiose note. But there’s aimlessness to certain stretches – a slackness that time will no doubt iron out, exposing their dreamy ore more fully, and fulfilling their undoubted potential.