Shearwater are working within a certain kind of ornithological-themed indie that makes much of a romanticised account of the natural world, and the approximation of folk traditions which comes along with it.

Of course, I exaggerate a little the specificity of the generic boundaries into which they fit; the point is that, despite a measure of variation, Shearwater’s sound feels unmistakably generic.This is not a good thing, but rather creates the impression that Shearwater’s sound has had its day; it belongs to the late noughties, the time of their acclaimed Island Arc albums.

This wouldn’t matter if Animal Joy were an assured enough effort, but alas. Many tracks, such as opener ‘Animal Life’, or ‘Pushing The River’, show the band’s aptitude for intricate instrumentation, and yet the majority of the songs make very little of this. Despite subtle piano and bass interactions, and clever yet understated percussion, the final product ends up neither original nor inspiring.

The exceptions are ‘Insolence’ and ‘Run Down The Banner’. These tracks have much sparser arrangements than the rest of the album, and as such manage to pull off a romantic, otherworldly melancholy that the others hint at but never effectively reach.

The band claimed that Animal Joy was going to mark a move towards their rockier side, and I think the success of these two more low-key songs demonstrates that this would be ill-advised. If it doesn’t have the majestic sound of previous records, it lacks the  spontaneous energy of rock.

This sums up the experience of listening to the album: though well constructed and technically adept, it is entirely unsurprising.