The urban poet stretches his musical wings on this impressive sophomore record, while keeping the kitchen sink in sight.

The debut LP by Obaro Ejimiwe, aka Ghostpoet, showcased intimate poetry, spinning everyday mundanity and night-time paranoia into graphic urban portraits, posted from the crossroads of trip-hop, dub and hip-hop.

A Mercury nomination followed, yet his unhurried, unconventional rapping style remains intact here.

Instead he expands his urban music palette, seamlessly absorbing Afrobeat guitar licks (Plastic Bag Brain), muted horn (Cold Win) and guest vocalists (the vulnerable, breathy Lucy Rose on Dial Tones).

Pringles and unopened mail share lyrical space with accounts of fracturing relationships (Meltdown) and urban isolation (Comatose), but there’s a surer hand on the musical tiller now.

Confident experiments with electric guitar solos played through a blue-smoke fug (Slothy Trot) and washes of marshmallow-soft synth (Dorsal Morsel) impress, too.

This is an engaging, cerebral set full of detailed arrangements that cements Ghostpoet as a master of the after-dark arts.

4 stars