If any other band began their seventh album with the sound of someone diving into a swimming pool, the fear of drowning in the murky waters of self-satisfaction would be justified. But with Super Furry Animals, the dunk illustrates how they've washed away the gnawing aggression that's held them prison within their eccentric sound. Instead, it's love that nurtures their space-obsessed rock, turning it to Cinemascope. Optimism drips from every lush swathe of strings, feel-good feeling rises from every easy, 1970s-inspired rhythm.
Like a great lost Beach Boys album, the key to these songs is the voices; the harmonies of the 100-strong Catalan choir (the album was recorded in sunny Catalonia) and, for the first time, vocal performances from four of the band's members. What they sing is as obscure as ever, with laser beams, dinosaurs, famine and Shergar present in their feverish imagination. But the songs, in particular the romantically inept Walk You Home and cascading antipathy of Frequency, overcome the surrealism. Their melodies have never sounded richer or more lovely, their charm never more beguiling. SFA have made their best album yet.