Desert Hearts: Enturbulation = No Challenge

For more than a decade, Desert Hearts have been one of Belfast's best-kept secrets. Their third album presents a mellower, more considered side of the band – now a four-piece with the addition of former General Fiasco duo Stuart Bell and Stephen Leacock to core members Charlie Mooney and Roisin Stewart. Largely gone is the ferocious post-punk of live favourites Sea Punk and No More Art, as well as some of the raw emotion of 2006's Hotsy Totsy Nagasaki . Instead, the quartet focus on mid-tempo songs with swelling melodies and lush arrangements. The baroque pop of Powertrash and the stirring Barebarbu are excellent, while The Usual builds to a thrilling maelstrom of guitars and crashing drums. Enturbulation = No Challenge is an accomplished indie rock record, but a few more moments of abandon might have elevated it still further.

Download: Barebarbu, The Usual