Malachai - Ugly Side of Love

This Bristol-based duo would appear, on the face of it, to be suffering from an identity crisis. Formerly Malakai, this first full-length release ventures down so many erratic avenues that at times it feels the point might be lost. But there's a suspicion that there is no defining 'point' to Ugly Side of Love, other than playfulness as the order of the day. This is highlighted in the opening track Warriors: a disjointed, Beefheartesque romp taking in samples from the 1979 movie of the same name.

The album then whooshes off to pay lip service to countrified rock on Shitkicker, Latin brass on Lay Down Stay Down and trip hop (of sorts) courtesy of a collaboration with Portishead's Geoff Barrow. The end result is often discordant, yet rarely dull; one of the few lowlights is first single Snowflake, a well-crafted earworm which jars simply because it's comparatively 'conventional' in the face of its warped pop brethren. [Wilbur Kane]