An album influenced by touring is an album that sets alarm bells ringing. Thankfully, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig spare us the laments about Arkansas service stations running out of jerky in favour of focusing on the emotional swings that occur after too much time away from home. You can hear it in the titles – Madness, Truce, Gone Insane – and in the references to being held at gunpoint and difficult relationships. The melodrama is given a widescreen pop backdrop – the girl-group sound of their last album, Wildewoman, now beefed up with explosive orchestral choruses, synthy 80s references and the odd key change. You sense they’re aiming to follow the ultra-smart likes of Goldfrapp or St Vincent, but creating truly unique pop is one of the hardest tricks to pull off. At times Lucius sound like they’re trying too hard to be clever (see the overly theatrical wails that conclude Gone Insane), at others they merely sound formulaic, and even a little dated. Something About You, for instance, recalls Girls Aloud – no terrible thing, but hardly a sound to get excited about in 2016.
