Concision is a seldom celebrated quality in music, yet when executed well, it can really elevate a composition severalfold. Into Strangeness, a first to come from Fear Of Men in four years, is an exemplary case in point, fitting an awful lot into just short of three minutes: restive sax reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’ Bad Witch; spectral keys more evocative of The Fragile; synths daubed with yet more dingy industrial matter; intense fretwork which cuts through the mix with keen, steely tenacity. Everything fits – in every sense – yet there’s still ample space for each component to move and, amidst this, for Jessica Weiss’ most versatile of voices to manoeuvre. “How far will you follow me into strangeness?/ Will you let the demon live in your pages?/ Will you let me know you feel alive?” she’ll rhetorically sign off, before a flurry of strings and further blurts of brassy fury bring things to a fittingly skittish conclusion. A timely, yet time-conscious, reminder that there is ample life left in Fear Of Men.

Into Strangeness is available now via Bandcamp.