Album: Tindersticks, The Something Rain (Lucky Dog)

Any fears that the ninth Tindersticks album would be as lazy as its title (as though they couldn't be bothered to think of a suitable adjective) are dispelled immediately by the stunning nine-minute opener "Chocolate", a spoken-word memoir about student bedsit life and falling in love.

The rest is perfectly lovely, too, with Harold Wilson lookalike Stuart Staples and his band delivering nine pieces of beautiful bossa-nova noir, daydreamy reverie and existential easy listening.