The biggest compliment I can find for this superb release is that listening to The Big Defreeze is like wearing your most comfortable clothes while out with your best friends and having the time of your life.

It is laden with gorgeous harmonies, soaring anthemic choruses and song structures that just come back round to haunt you. Add this to a cosmic Mancunian blend of Americana and you have one terrific record.

The Travelling Band have been doing themselves no harm over the last three years before recording this batch of tunes. Gigging regularly, they have become a tight cohesive unit clearly reflected in the recording of the album. The feel good factor flows from track to track with such an infectious vibe you want to jump in the car, open the windows wide,drive in the sunshine and sing along to ‘Hands Up’.

Having said all that, this is a beautifully crafted record, a heady sonic delight that emits an ethereal atmosphere, uncluttered yet completely satisfying and uplifting. It is really impossible to pick a stand out track. Yes, there is a nod here and there to some influences the more observant might recognise but why not pay it forward? Listen and decide if you can spot them.

Be quick before everybody else discovers your new favourite band. Let’s be right: this is a music lover’s record. 8/10. It’s a beauty.

Words: Keefy

P.S.: Just an aside: back in the day (1972) a band called Rare Bird released a wonderful album called Epic Forest. Mostly ignored this fabulous album and it still languishes undiscovered. Don’t let The Big Defreeze suffer a similar fate. Here’s a top track: