The Hidden Messages - 'Animal Actors EP'

The Hidden Messages don’t release LPs, only EPs – which is perhaps thankful. Nice as their escapist orchestrals may be, it’s a tad too mundane to last more than four tracks. The songs are each fairly unresolved though, hinting that perhaps the London five-piece have more where this EP came from. Vocals are Edwyn Collins meets Darren Hayman, and that’s laudable – and ‘Out of Touch’ is the highlight of the music on offer here. The arrangements are complex, far from contrived, and the contrapuntal leanings are welcome. But the message isn’t hidden - the disconcertedness is plain to see. It does feel a shame though that it’s grounded so inconsistently between art-rock, symphonic pop and C86.

Released 14/04/08 on Pop WIll Prevail.