NO modish music has undergone a greater transition from opprobrium to eulogies all round than shoegazing, and no band has done more to effect that change than ambience-chasing sonic pioneers Slowdive.

Slowly the curtain of derision has lifted in their 22-year absence from the recording studio – Berlin electronic label Morr Music has even compiled a tribute set of cover versions – although offshoot albums by Mojave 3 and Minor Victories and solo works by Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell always kept the Slowdive creative juices flowing.

As indicated by the title, Slowdive have made their definitive record after their hiatus by elevating their core strengths at their Courtyard studio in Oxfordshire: the beguiling interface of guitars, electronics and keyboards with beauteous, sky-at-night melodies.

Determined to avoid a (hippy) trip down memory lane, principal songwriter Halstead, fellow vocalist Goswell and co have instead stretched out their blissful canvas, conjuring eight expansive songs that linger longer by the listen. Cannily too, they asked Beach House producer Chris Coady to apply his sublime Sunset Sound finesse to Slomo, Star Roving et al.