Oh Death CD

Goat's last studio album, 2016's Requiem, had the feel of a weary, bittersweet goodbye - a melancholic masterpiece that seemed to signal the end of the road. The playfully titled Oh Death confirms that we all jumped to the same, inaccurate conclusion. Typically forthright, vibrant, colourful and weighty, the album's 10 tracks present the impossible-to-pigeonhole Swedish band at their bristling best. Musically, it's a real riot of aural colour, weight and improvisational intent, featuring songs and instrumentals that frequently blur the boundaries between wild psychedelic rock, freewheeling jazz and the infectious dancefloor funk of Afrobeat. For proof, check the intense and breathless 'Do The Dance', where honky tonk pianos, fuzz bass and grungy guitar riffs rise above tribal drums, and the tropical Afro-funk-goes-jazz-rock hedonism of 'Under No Nation'. Utterly brilliant.