It’s none too often that you’re absolutely taken aback by a track on first exposure; not least when it’s first heard live, atop the bacchanalian quaffing, idle chitter-chattering and so on that is, alas, so often associated with the London ‘night’, no matter the day of the week. Nevertheless, TOPS’ typically languid latest – The Hollow Sound of the Morning Chimes, or End of Love as it was then known – was one such number; the sort to enamour with a very enviable immediacy amidst a November mist of yesteryear. Then, it was Oslo, the Hackney stronghold treated to an effervescent triumph which both excellently and exhaustively showcased the breathily lithe sighs and truly alluring exhalations of Jane Penny, the burgeoning, guitar-centric musical competence of David Carriere, and the nuanced thwackery of DeMarco doppelgänger Riley Fleck with a quite remarkable concurrency. And now, flecked with further disco ball-like brilliance, the future apparently remains blindingly luminous for the Montréal quartet…

The Hollow Sound of the Morning Chimes is available now, via Arbutus Records.