THERE is an impatient element of the music-following fraternity which has a tendency to make up its mind about songs within the first 20 seconds. Bombay Bicycle Club’s fourth album won’t win many fans among this demographic. Whatever the London outfit’s strengths are, flying out of the traps isn’t one of them.

So Long… shouldn’t be judged purely on the low-key openings to its tracks, however. Jack Steadman’s band have probably endured more struggles in trying to find the sound which suits them best than they let on, having previously ventured into folk, indie and pop. Now they’re focusing on electronic, almost danceable emo-rock; twee at its worst, powerful at its best. The contrasts are evident, and hold So Long… back from being the defining album it could and perhaps should have been.

The strength shines through on opener Overdone, It’s Alright Now (when it hits its stride after a nursery-rhyme start), the Groove Armada-esque drive of Carry Me and Whenever, Wherever, which is three or maybe four songs merged into one but demonstrates considerable songwriting panache in making its collision of ideas work.

But the rest of the self-produced So Long… gives the impression that BBC had no energy beyond the four standout tracks, with Eyes Off You, Come To and the title track underwhelming and Feel taking an unwise detour into Bollywood.

Steadman’s falsetto needs his band’s songs to be more or less constantly on top of their game to prevent BBC sounding weak, but while So Long… has the right intentions – sonically, it’s a look they should stick with – too many of them have gone to waste.