If you had to describe the world to someone who had never been here before, what would you say? On Cold Beat’s fifth studio album – beautifully layered and teeming with mystery – the San-Francisco natives endeavour to address this question, pushing the envelope in new and exciting ways.

Written by Hannah Lew while she was pregnant, Mother is about an array of emotions. Amid the lush soundscapes, deep uncertainty mixes with indescribable love and hope. ‘Paper’ makes brilliant use of saxophone, while exhibiting one of the album’s catchier guitar licks, backed by celestial synths. This is immediately followed by a spacey, new-age track ‘Pearls’, wherein the robotic beginning completely offsets the acoustic instruments of the previous track. Indeed, the battle between analogue and digital is at the centre of the album.

At times, Cold Beat’s songs are lyrically incomprehensible. But perhaps that’s the point. After all, how do you describe the current state of the world? Words fail! The best thing about Mother is that it aims to kickstart a debate, rather than trying to supply all the answers.

8/10

Mother is out now.