Basement return with ‘Wired’, the Ipswich five-piece’s first new album in over eight years. Released via their original label, Run For Cover Records, the record is the result of all the band members collaborating during the songwriting process and working with producer John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, Death Cab for Cutie, St. Vincent).

The atmospheric ‘Time Waster’ opens with a flurry of scuzzy yet melodic riffs and clattering drums before Andrew Fisher sings: ‘We don’t even matter, lean into the pressure’. It’s a boisterous and anthemic welcome to the record that continues through to the title track, although the urgency of the music is expertly at odds with the personal introspection in the words: ‘There’s a reason for the choice you have made’.

‘Deadweight’ follows with the band harking back to their post-hardcore roots, although there’s a slackerpop flourish towards the end after Andrew admits: ‘I was breaking up, I was breaking down. You were always there, keeping me around’. Recent single ‘Broken by Design’ follows with its sublime mixture of shoegaze stylings and emo tendencies – ‘I’m wasting all my time, leaving innocence behind’ – while ‘Pick Up the Pieces’ is a more distorted and noisy piece with a DIY punk feel running through.

‘Embrace’ is sparser and more intricate to start with, although there are elements of Deftones or Manchester Orchestra in its anthemic ending: ‘How do we, how do we go on? How do we, how do we survive?’ ‘Satisfy’ has an almost jangle-pop feel as Andrew declares ‘I want your love, but I’m not free from all the noise that’s crawling in my head’, while recent single ‘Head Alight’ is a beautifully balanced and quietly anthemic love song: ‘You shine too bright, you set my head alight’.

This tenderness continues through to ‘Longshot’: ‘When all is said and done, I have already won because you are the sun in my sky’. The closing ‘Summer’s End’ is altogether more venomous, capturing the infectious angst of The Hotelier with its more assertive tones: ‘Are you listening now?’

Andrew sings ‘There’s no escaping honesty’ on ‘The Way I feel’ and that could well sum up the spirit of this special album. Basement are not afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves – and you’ll want to be Wired into every single beat.