The Would Be’s: Beautiful Mess

You wait, you wait, you wait, and then you just give up. Ten years pass, then 20, and then you really give up. Er, hold on, we have some breaking news: 23 years after their debut single (I'm Hardly Ever Wrong), The Would Be's' original line-up reforms, writes new material, departs domesticity for sneaky recording sessions, and – quelle surprise – delivers one pre-Christmas cracker of an indie pop record. At less than 40 minutes, Beautiful Mess's 10 songs don't hang about, and it's the measure of its constituent parts that the past is referenced but not ravaged. Inevitably, the chirpiness of yesteryear has been chipped away by life. Quite a few songs here may host and boast a decorous Sundays/Smiths zing, but there's as much trouble at the mill as there is mirth. A seriously beautiful pop record, no messing. facebook.com/thewouldbes
Download: Black & White Rain- bow, Some Other Planet, Waste your Love