Album: Blood Red Shoes, In Time to Voices (V2)

ITTV is the third album from the Brighton duo of Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell and, while they haven't quite justified their claim to have thrown away the rulebook, they're executing their spooked alt-rock with added poise and class.

Their sparse, arid sound still has identifiable influences (notably, early PJ Harvey), but this time around, the songwriting has come into focus, and the hooks get under your skin. Blood Red Shoes are the band the Kills think they are.