Reveries may be an attempt at gazing with ethereal glasses, but the inclusion of what sounds like Chris Isaac taking on the Twin Peaks soundtrack leaves the Norwegian four-piece looking from the outside in.

The Oslo group have had a rather severe line-up change since their debut Aesthetics, most notably the arrival of vocalist Rebekka Markstein. Her voice is a serene presence throughout – which is more than can be said for the sultry guitars and percussive rhythms. On tracks like Devil’s Sigh it becomes clear that the band just don’t have the songs to back up the angelic performance Markstein can turn on. Her voice floats while the instrumentation stumbles into clichéd riffs and well worn dreams.

The record opens with the darkened wander that is Falling Down the Streets, the reverberating guitar lines working better when they are over-fuzzed rather than twanging like a 50s obsessed session player. The gaze element grows, but the song is a simple phrase on repeat and any atmosphere fades via the repetitive nature of the track.

With little highs or lows, this is a bleak soundtrack lifted intermittently with moments like the offset beat in Pretty Nights. It has Markstein having more push and pull via her vocal display rather than sunken into the overly spaced-out and ordinary mix. But tracks like Perfumed are untimely reminders that the group are relying on the tremolo guitar and their desire to be extras in the next Lynch movie. It leaves us with a record that struggles to find a home for itself, turning up for one party but dressed for another.

-Lucy Milton-