Egyptology - The Skies (Double vinyl LP)

Oh wow. Where the hell did these guys come from? The sleeve art for this album is sexy as all hell, with a die-cut front cover which you can mix and match with the four different sides of the inner sleeves. Desire have teamed up with French label Clapping Music for this vinyl edition which they quite rightly describe as "super deluxe". When you put the needle down on the groove there’s some astral chirping synths on the pulsating beatless opener, then a bit of quiet, throbby, Carpenter-esque minimal synth stuff, and then the rhythms come in. Glacial drum machine beats overlaid with swathes of brightly detailed vintage synth tones, building to a euphoric melodic climax that’s making me glad I came to work today.

Flip it and the positive vibes continue, settling into a slow-paced, sensuous and shamelessly melodic style which has the playful vintage tones of Apparat Organ Quartet, the shameless synthetic soulfulness of Daft Punk, but with its own krauty, deliberate pace that gives it a hypnotic, slightly trancey feel. If you take a look at the press release you will be able to marvel at the mouthwatering list of classic synthesisers these lads are packing, and as you would expect the library tones come thick and fast.

The tunes on here are really varied, apparently each constructed as an imaginary soundtrack to a specific event or scenario, but they’re always melodic and meticulously constructed and there isn’t a single moment of this record that I haven’t enjoyed. I feel like they’ve taken the chin-scratching purist synth nostalgia that’s been so popular of late and cranked up the fun levels. If you like atmospheric ‘80s synth soundtracks and Ghost Box, Belbury Poly type library nostalgia, or just good old-fashioned heartwarming soulful tunes you’ll want to get involved here. Business Lady and I both snapped it up already.