Album: Stars and Sons, Good Morning Mother (Twice Burnt)

Stars and Sons are part of a new wave of British art-pop that seems to believe that the more you add to a song, the better it gets, when the obverse is often demonstrably true.

Thankfully, they're not as keen to impress as the overrated Everything Everything, only tipping into over-egg mode late on, when "Comfy Now" spins in so many different directions it all but tears itself apart. But when leader Mike Lord and the producer Dave Eringa manage to balance the instrumental detail with a purposive momentum, the engaging result is prog-pop with a defiantly sunny aspect: with its high-pitched vocals and unusual harmonic slants, opener "Out of View" recalls the very early Yes, when they still had a grasp on pop imperatives; likewise, the jaunty piano of single "If It's Good for Me" brings to mind Supertramp. Risky, but promising.

DOWNLOAD THIS Out of View; If It's Good for Me; In the Ocean