The Xcerts - i think i want to go home now.

For the better part of two decades now, Brighton-via-Aberdeen trio The Xcerts have toiled away on the indie circuit to earn their status as one of alt-rock’s most beloved and respected British cult bands. Across five albums, they’ve tried on plenty of different guises for size, moving from the introspective hush of their debut (2009’s ‘In The Cold Wind We Smile’) to the darkly squalling grunge that doused 2011’s ‘Scatterbrain’, before refining their still-gnarly take on anthemic pop-rock across its three follow-ups. It’s on their latest - the capitsalisation-eschewing ‘i think i want to go home now.’ - that they do away with some of the sheen of their previous works in favour of a return to a more urgent, scratchy effort that once again shows their knack for transforming existential unease into something intensely cathartic.

Granted, there are still moments where their crystalline pop hooks shine through (‘dream you in’, ‘losing it’) or their tender side prevails (‘in your eyes’), but it’s the vital energy of ‘do it to myself’, the scuzzy ‘sinking feeling’ or the feedback-laden, adrenaline shot that is ‘pretty ugly’ that feel to cut deepest here. An album which feels arguably their least adorned and, therefore, likely closest to their core DNA, it’s a fitting reminder of their strength as a band and their journey thus far.