by Philip Moss

For a long time, W.H. Lung were Manchester’s best kept secret. With their identities shrouded, it gave the band time to mould their debut album, Incidental Music – a collection of rambling lo-fi indie that unfurled its charm on repeated listens.

But Pearl in the Palm is a different beast. Immediate – with an irresistible groove – front man, Joseph Evans (no longer the anonymous Joseph E), is quite literally front and centre with his strongest melody to date. But the best music is layered – emotionally, as well as in sound – and underneath the LCD Soundsystem infused surface level is a whole other world to explore. ‘Johann Strauss in the closet composes a waltz!’ Evans sings before the song hits the first chorus – and, clearly influenced by the Austrian composer, there is a whole symphony of its own at play that creeps in and out of the mix for those that want to find it. A special return – Manchester’s best band in a decade just got even better.

New album, Vanities, is out on 3rd September through Melodic.

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