Though Deerhunter’s output since 2007’s violent Cryptograms has been consistently engrossing and subtly changing, there’s now a confidence to Bradford Cox’s playing that makes their music more extroverted. Drummer Moses Archuleta also adds a distinct set of textures, whether he’s buffeting Cox’s vocal outbursts on ‘Revival’ or bringing tension to a perfectly timed coda on the show-stopping ‘Desire Lines’. Lyrically, too, each song brims with personality. At this time of year, how cutting are these lines that stand out from the sunlit tones of ‘Memory Boy’: "That October, she came over every day / The smell of loose leaf joints on jeans and we would play / It’s not a house any more." Thematically, as it remembers the bliss and horrors of suburban adolescence, this is a great Freshers’ Week record. But Deerhunter are doing more here than hitting teenage sweet-spots; they’re taking us through the album of the year.

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