Written over a stretch of two to three years, We Are Scientists’ eighth album ‘Lobes’ finds the New York duo exploring new sounds and directions with confidence and glee…

The synthy toe-tapper ‘Operator Error’ opens the album with rhythmic and hypnotic statements – ‘It’s all a a game of confidence’; ‘You kwwp on saying you don’t get the joke so why are you laughing?’ – before ‘Dispense with Sentiment’ finds Keith trying to make sense of things amidst handclaps and samba beats while earnestly asking ‘Can we start again?’ The anthemic ‘Human Resources’ has a groovy bass line running through to complement its cowbells and words about pretending to be something that you’re not: ‘I think I want you but I know that I don’t need you’.

Recent single ‘Lucky Just to Be Here’ has a slow and evocative style reminscent of the latter-day Maccabees with swirling, loud and proud guitar hooks before ‘Turn It Up’ lives up to its title with an art rock sound that could easily sit alongside Durch Uncles or Talking Heads. There’s also some advice to live by: ‘Everything’s so much better when you turn it up’. Power pop hooks drive ‘Settled Accounts’ and ‘Here Goes’ before ‘Parachute’ finds the duo opening up about being scared. ‘Less From You’ is a singalong-style piece with beats, twists and turns while ‘Miracle of 22’ harks back to WAS breakthrough with a guitar-driven indie-pop sound that remains fresh and fantastic.

Keep your Lobes open, there’s a new We Are Scientists record to wrap your ears around.