For their fourth full-length album, Leeds five-piece largely shed their conventional crescendo-led post-rock elements in search of a full-on glitterball effect.
This is something band member Martin Teff openly acknowledges when he says: "We're really aiming to create a living, breathing version of electronic dance music".
In the words of a track title from their first album 'White Fields And Open Devices'(2008), Vessels have metamorphosed into an 'altered beast'.
The cluster of what look like laser beams on the cover art denotes the steering towards more digitally orientated music making but this synthesized shift should not distract the listener from the fact that this is a band that still use and value 'real' instruments, as the videoed live performances Mobilise and Gløwer illustrate.
These two tracks also show that the synchronized precision of their math-rock roots is very much intact. This may be music to get the body moving but it is not to be lumped in with mindless disco fodder.
Over half the record is composed of instrumentals but the prominent use of vocal collaborators help humanize and vary the sound. The most high profile of these is Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne whose airy voice makes Deflect The Light an obvious highlight.
The other guest singers are Sky Larkin's Katie Harkin on Deeper In A Sky, Vincent Neff of Django Django on Trust Me and John Grant on the closing track, Erase The Tapes.
The lyrics to these tunes are nothing to write home about but at its best the sonic buzz of this album is thrillingly immersive and hypnotic, a mix which demands to be played at a high volume to get the full effect.
