Weird Milk - We Were Strangers EP

Flying out the gate faster than a greyhound who thinks he's left the bath running, Londoners Weird Milk bring such joyful energy with their latest EP that there's no need for that morning coffee.

While times outside might be a bit dicey, it'll be worth retreating into a cocoon for the winter and embracing the feeling of finding something that brings hope and optimism. The band themselves claim this is the funkiest they've ever been, which surely can only mean good things.

Each of the five tracks on 'We Were Strangers' is packed with character, with the quintet reminiscing about their teenage years and learning how to feel comfortable within their own skin. There's a definite sense they've relaxed into their particular niche in the great world of indie pop, with a spring in their step and what we'll have to assume are permanent smiles plastered on their faces as they thrill dear listeners ever so gently.

Sure, they might be looking over their shoulder at their own teen graces, but really the heart of this sound harks back a fair bit further than that. Adding a little reprise to the end of the emphatic 'Vienna' is the perfect throwback touch to a release that owes so much to the 1970s, glam and increasingly alarming facial hair decisions.

Closer 'I Wonder If…' signs things off in a beautifully melancholic way. This is peak lighters in the air stuff, minding the overly-coiffured perms, and slow dancing around the room may as well be made mandatory for all listeners.

A record so far out of time it'd take all the scientists we have to even get close to sending it back to where it belongs. So why bother? Let's just enjoy the moment and breathe in the optimism.