The Impossible Thrill

As weary of heart and wide of eye as ever, Alpha are back to haunt your troubled sleep. Valium breaks, lush orchestration and whispered phone calls to long-dead numbers coalesce into The Impossible Thrill's eleven slices of slow-burning bliss. It's true that the Alpha blueprint hasn't changed much since 1998's Come From Heaven, but when you sound like the bastard offspring of Alison Goldfrapp and Al Green, "more of the same" is a blessing rather than a complaint.

Printed on the reverse of the jewel case, underneath the barcode, is a simple caution: "Sorry this box will break." All that's missing is the suffix"your heart".

Impossibly gorgeous.