SOMETIMES it’s a heart-warming bonus coming across a sound you’ve never heard. Owen Pallett is one such ear-opener.

In Conflict is a genuine contender for, at the least, the most intriguing album so far this year. “Approaching insanity in a positive way” may be an explanatory quote from Pallett that is OTT if not bizarre. But the record rebounds like a bullet in a concrete canyon. The ultimate target may be unknown, may even remain unmarked, but telling impacts are frequently made.

At the core of the record is a miasma of emotions encompassing depression and addiction. It’s deffo not sing-a-long stuff. But Pallett pitches his often challenging subject matter to trenchant scrutiny. And those tunes. They twist, insinuate and coil like a disturbed rattler. In this electronica with bite, there are nods to Scott Walker, Depeche Mode and New Order with a dash of experimental Radiohead.

The employment of lush string arrangements underpins the likes of the title track and the swelling “Song From Five & Six”. This is a Pallett that lifts the soul.