Personal Trainer @ The Mash House, Edinburgh, 16 Feb

The wildly uncategorisable Modern Woman are up first tonight, taking the loud/quiet dichotomy to extreme new places in service of keeping the surprisingly full room on its toes. It's pin-drop quiet during singer Sophie Harris's frequent a capella monologues, and the noise made during the extended freakouts is far too abrasive for anything less than unreserved attention. Between these moments there's time for a one-man cowbell conga and witchy ballads reminiscent of Sharon Van Etten. The audience is nothing short of mesmerised.

Personal Trainer, a sextet tonight as their bongo player is sick, squeeze themselves on to The Mash House stage and rip into Upper Ferntree Gully, the opener from last year's brilliant Still Willing. Its near-eight-minute runtime is honoured and gives an early indication of the serious chops this band have. All night they manage to incorporate saxophone, clarinet, keys, synths and a steady rotation of guitars with seamless dexterity.

Main man Willem Smit has an undeniable presence, an easy charisma that rejects the need for any showy antics but comes through in his passionate delivery, almost emo in its earnestness, despite the humour. Like Gareth David of Los Campesinos!, Smit generally favours a conversational tone, but the strength of those pipes is evident in the frequent moments he sings off-mic, still easily heard over the arrangements.

What Am I Supposed To Say About the People and Their Ways breaks the run of guitar-led barnstormers with a headfirst dive into the sort of synth-pop that Yazoo made their name with. A handful of new songs demonstrates that the band aren't resting on their laurels just six months after Still Willing, and the direction hinted at makes good use of their maximalist tendencies to stretch and mutate their sounds into interesting new places. Though that exploration is tempered by a string of songs that owe much to the well-worn path of key influence Pavement: Rug Busters, Round and Still Willing.

Despite a clear ability to construct an intricate wall of sound, the band are at their best when Smit is able to centre his winding narratives and nowhere is this better done than closer Testing the Alarm. The tension builds as the tale unspools, the music matching the intensity without being overbearing. It reinforces the skilful songwriting of a band that are able to take the same basic ingredients and effortlessly produce catchy, thoughtful and innovative music. The future looks bright indeed for Personal Trainer.