Since pulling the plug on Oceansize almost a decade ago, Mike Vennart has been building a new space for himself in the post-grunge/post-rock/post-prog category, tempering the weight of his sound with a growing lightness of touch. But while In The Dead, Dead Wood – released with little advance warning – doesn’t lose sight of his melodic sensibilities, this feels like a much darker album than 2018’s To Cure A Blizzard Upon A Plastic Sea. As Vennart himself says, “This is less of a poppy endeavour than previous outings ’cos I’m feeling less Dave Lee Roth, and more Nick fucking Drake just now.” He also talks about his “unquenchable thirst” for drone music and ambient metal, and that certainly informs this album as well.