You can tell Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson is a man who, if he had his druthers, would live in another time; a time where Floyd were still hosting psychedelic acid trips to the gates of hell at remote London clubs, and Lennon  & McCartney weren’t even household names. It’s not just the distinct psychedelic-pop sound of II that prompts us to that conclusion, but moreover Nielson’s poignant lyricism and message, wishing he was ‘in a different time…in the sweet cool darkness…floating away.’

The band has ventured into new territories on their latest effort, all whilst retaining the trenchant sound from their self titled debut, yielding a boundless mix of psychedelic and experimental rock, characterised by long winding verses, breezy pop melodies and many a psychedelic jam. From pleasantly surprising moments such as atmospheric opener ‘From the Sun’, which sees shimmering, oscillating guitar riffs and a beefy, broken beat backing Nielson’s bare voice uttering ‘Isolation can put a gun in your hand’, Unknown Mortal Orchestra provide us with a series of solid, adventurous psych-pop tracks. Throughout the album, the band really demonstrates their virtuosity in creating free flowing music, devoid of overt structure or pretence; and more importantly backed by some seriously deft instrumentation (as on the Jimmy Page-esque riff all throughout ‘No need for a leader’). Lighter moments such as singles ‘No good at being in Trouble’ and ‘Swim and Sleep’ provide us with peppy pop songs inundated with thick beats, bopping bass-lines and an ear worm of a chorus or two.

However, as well as the music builds throughout, some of the hooks are questionable, and banal at best. The music feels almost thwarted at times; as if further experimentation was inexplicably stopped to mould into predictable choruses. This issue reverberates strong because Unknown Mortal Orchestra display the possibilities of their potential, but have issue executing it.Nonetheless, II sees the New Zealand/American trio develop into a much more coherent act, capable of creating truly awe-inspiring music, embodied with a fresh dichotomy between their buoyant music and drab words, taking you back to a time – just for one second – where Roger Waters was singing ‘Is there anybody out there feeling something?’

7.4/10

STAND OUTS: FROM THE SUN, NO GOOD AT BEING IN TROUBLE, NO NEED FOR A LEADER

– Sam