PICK OF THE WEEK

Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Can’t Keep Checking My Phone (Jagjaguwar)

Last time we encountered UMO’s Ruban Nielson he was a cape-wearing insomniac who, according to his own lyrics, wished for nothing more than to sleep for ever at the bottom at the ocean. Things have clearly picked up a bit since then, because this is a shimmering spurt of horny psychedelic disco that comes on like Beck doing Prince, remixed by Caribou. Hard to argue with the core message, either, which is basically: stop making Bitmojis of yourself, put your phone away and start gyrating like an excitable chimp on the person nearest to you. That’s what I took from it anyway.

The Chemical Brothers
Sometimes I Feel So Deserted (Virgin EMI)

Let’s party like it’s 1994! With Leftfield and Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll also back in the saddle, this summer’s festivals are braced for an outbreak of enthusiastic middle-aged finger-whirling. It’s cheering to discover that none of these acts have allowed the passage of time and the recession of hairlines to soften the attack of their music. Sometimes I Feel So Deserted whooshes and thumps with the best of them: music designed to make you feel as if you’re coming up on your third Mitsubishi, even if you’re actually just picking the kids up from SoccerTots.

Club Cheval
From The Basement To The Roof (Parlophone/Bromance/Warner)

Club Cheval may sound like the kind of jokers who leave disparaging comments under Call Of Duty kill videos on YouTube, but they’re a French pop-house troupe who distinguish themselves from their British counterparts by use of a fourth chord – albeit it quite a smug, jazzy one. We could also have done without guest vocalist and cod philosopher Phlo Finister telling us that “everything in life is so visual”. So, um, nice bassline I guess.

Arborist Feat Kim Deal
Twisted Arrow (Kirkinriola)

Arborist’s Mark McCambridge is not the first guy to twig that having Kim Deal on harmonies instantly makes his songs 200% cooler, though kudos to the Belfast-based folkie for managing to coax the notoriously workshy Deal into a studio. The result is not unlike a vexed, downcast version of the Breeders’ country chug Drivin’ On 9.

Blanck Mass
Detritus (Sacred Bones)

If you enjoyed Aphex Twin’s recent comeback album but felt it could have done with a few more bits that sounded as if the devil was faxing you a picture of his arse, then meet Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power’s solo project Blanck Mass. Once you’ve toughed out the first two mins of skull-crushing static, you’re rewarded with a bombastic surrender-ye-mortals anthem that ought to boom out of the speakers every time Ronaldo steps up to take a free kick