According to YouTube Music, this is The Durutti Column's 28th album, and their first since 2010. In all that time, I have to admit I'd never heard of them, that is until earlier this year. I was in the UK taking my daughter around my old haunts in London when we found ourselves in Rough Trade East, in Brick Lane. I was actually looking for something specific, which unfortunately they didn't have, but we split up and I eventually picked up a few vinyl LPs. After I'd paid, they were playing this music in the store. It was mesmerising and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I went back to the till and asked what album they were playing. It was, apparently, The Durutti Column's debut album, "The Return of the Durutti Column", which, as it happened, had just had a new vinyl pressing. Fortunately, they had a copy, so I found myself in possession of one, which unfortunately I then had to wait nearly a week to listen to.

Playing that album for the first time was quite the experience and will forever be associated with that trip. As I dug deeper into the band, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I discovered the man behind the band was Vini Reilly, the very same Vini Reilly whose distinctive guitar sound exudes from Morrissey's first album, "Viva Hate". So, even though this band was a new discovery, the sound was always somewhat familiar.

Now I'm not going to attempt to break this album down into its constituent tracks. Upon first listen, I have to say that, for me, it was much more accessible than the debut, where I found there were many tracks I loved, but a few that took a while to grow on me. With this album, I put it on and can honestly say I was transfixed from beginning to end, which I know can sound a little like blowing smoke, but honestly there's just something about this album that feels like going on a sonic journey. Needless to say, if you're not listening on headphones, you're maybe missing out on some of the intimacy, though I'm sure that can be counterbalanced by cranking this up to 11.

Many will know my love of ambient, drone, repetition, and the like, and this album has all of those elements. What sets it apart, though, is a vibrancy that you don't often find in music of this nature. There's far more going on here than you might expect, and I think that makes the album much more accessible to those who might otherwise be put off by ambient or new wave music.

OK, so if push came to shove and I had to point the finger at some highlights, I would say the opener, "Echoes in the Memory", is one, as it is, I think, instantly recognisable as their sound, so it's always a good way to start proceedings, even though it's a tad under a minute and a half. I loved "Time Present and Time Past", which almost has a classical underpinning, but don't let that scare you off, it's built on faint hints of historic brilliance. "Liars" jumped out at me as one of the tracks to feature vocals heavily, and I think they are very much a welcome addition, similarly "Sargasso Sea". "For Friends Everywhere" is also an interesting track, with a nice use of brass, which may sound like an odd thing to throw into the mix, but it works so well, as do the eventual strings.

I can espouse and pontificate endlessly, but at the end of the day, you will either take the leap and invest 41 minutes into an album that probably won't change your life, but will, in my opinion, leave you better for having done so, or you won't. I'm hoping the former. This is certainly a contender for Album of the Year.