As Winter gives way to another Spring, new album releases are finding their way onto my radar in ever increasing numbers. Three new CDs dropped onto my doormat in rapid succession a couple of days ago and each, in its own way, is making a big first impression.

First up, we have Please Come Home, by Lonely Robot, John Mitchell’s new solo project. This is a disc that grabs you immediately – melodic and catchy as hell, with superb guitar playing throughout. If you enjoyed Sound Of Contact’s debut, or the recent release from former SoC member Dave Kerzner, there’s a strong possibility that you will fall in love with this. A proper review will follow soon…

Next is Public Service Broadcasting‘s second full album release, The Race For Space. If you’ve not heard this band, you really should give them a listen. They expertly blend sampled clips from various audiovisual archives with a unique musical style that is very difficult to pin down, leaping between pop, dance, ambient & electronic. Imagine if Kraftwerk played conventional instruments as well as synths… and were English… and wore tweed. It isn’t prog but it is innovative and highly entertaining. This album scores bonus points with an unashamed space geek like me simply because of its subject matter: the ‘golden era’ of space exploration, from Sputnik through to Apollo 17.

Finally, we have Sanguine Hum’s double-CD magnum opus, Now We Have Light. Confronted with this sprawling, ambitious epic, I can imagine just how a Genesis fan must have felt back in 1974, expecting another Selling England but faced with the intense, bewildering genius of The Lamb. On the strength of just two listens, it’s already clear that this is an altogether darker, more mature and more subtle offering than its excellent predecessor, The Weight Of The World. Dare I say an early candidate for Album Of The Year? Time will tell. It’s going to take me a while to untangle the complex musical threads of this album and make sense of it all, but it’s an adventure I look forward to with relish…