After a brief hiatus, Silber Records make a welcome return with three-piece Moodring’s collection of eight tracks of energetic twisted dark shoegaze jazz. Long sustained keyboard chords and steady mostly single-note electric bass playing are the core, with live drums often allowed to cut free and loose among sound effects, samples, vocal wails and and other elements lifted from the more electric side of indulgent prog rock.

There’s a broad sweep of styles involved and every track has its own character. After the relatively straight-up prog rock of opener “Of Metal And Burning”, “Pete In A Cage” is unusually accessible, with a steadier poppier rhythm and an electric bass that’s borderline funky, while “Snow Shadow” centres around a plaintive piano over a swaggering bassline. Proceedings are equally unpredictable in the second half, with “Nobel Iron” flying closest to the song format before the chaotic avantgarde 70’s throwback sounds of “There Is No Last Word”. Final track “Thuja” showcases flitty, skittish and effect-heavy flute work over a warm drone and guitar pattern.

It’s a warm and tightly-constructed short album with atmosphere and energy, that finds a good balance between musicality and the deliberate repetitiveness that can be the strength of the genre. It’s one of Silber’s more accessible offerings and definitely worth checking out.