The 202s: From When the Future Was Yet to Hurt Us review – atmospheric pop

They released a stellar debut in 2009 and then promptly disappeared from the scene for the best part of a decade; as The 202s will tell you themselves, life has a habit of getting in the way.

The Dublin trio's second album follows the pop, electro and kraut-inspired vapour trail of yesteryear with songs like the wistful rumble of Up in Thin Air, but this is an altogether more experimental collection. This time around, the trio are focused more on atmosphere than zippy three-minute pop songs, with tracks like the snaky seven-minute shuffle of Oh My My and the meandering Are You For Real dominating the tracklist.

Their loose approach means that songs like the Korg buzz of Love Is In and and the spacey Spiritualized-style jam of Mediglockthing occasionally take a frustratingly long time to come into focus.

In between the labyrinthine numbers are more intriguing moments to be unearthed, like the quirky Dash for the Exit and the thoroughly enjoyable electro-rock reverberation of Soul Don't Boogie. As comebacks go, it's not quite what we expected – but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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Download: Up in Thin Air, Soul Don't Boogie