Paul Smith - Diagrams

There's a tired cliché of artists struggling with that 'difficult second album' but for Paul Smith - known best as the leaping vocalist of Maxïmo Park - it's now four stellar LPs for his solo spin-off. Not bad for a humble hat-enthusiast from Billingham.

This latest offering sees another barrage of often delicately-constructed songs mix a familiar vocal presence with a surprising array of aural backdrops.

Its architect clearly takes a keen interest in the world that surrounds him, and his focus is more on reflections of society rather than him looking for internal subjects.

Those instantly recognisable North-East tones are delivered with the knowing drawl of someone who has had a career that's spanned at least a decade in the higher echelons of their scene.

His way with words is as a poet, the mastery of the English tongue shown throughout suggests a vocabulary any journalist would love to be able to pull from.

It’s a bit rougher around the edges than Maxïmo Park’s back catalogue, yet this only adds to the character this iconic frontman can produce when not showing an abundance of on-stage energy.

Recent single 'Silver Rabbit' is a peak of overdriven riffs highlighting a story of somewhat pessimistic self-reflection at the arcade as 'Syrian Plains' brings welcome psych to the release, with Dali-esque melting guitars filling the air and bringing the track to an epic conclusion.