Electro-pop that’s mature, reflective AND fun and vital? Metronomy tick all the boxes...

Metronomy have climbed to the top of the mature dance-pop tree with the astute and engaging Love Letters in 2013 and 2011’s The English Riviera.

After headlining Field Day and their own gig at Ally Pally, what next for the Devon-via-East-London singer, songwriter and producer Joe Mount?

Summer 08 takes its inspiration from Mount’s reflections on the drawbacks of hitting the big time - missing important family moments while in the back of a tour bus, and the confused mania of being a critical success.

Thankfully, a navel-staring, woe-is-me yawnfest isn’t Mount’s style, and sonically this is just as broad a church as Love Letters.

Back Together whets the appetite with a heavy dose of LCD Soundsystem’s punk-disco sound, shouty delivery and jerky guitar stabs, before softening to a sweet, sunny - but still danceable - synth jelly by the end.

The taut, pliable basslines here and throughout Summer 08 reinforce an irresistible bounce and optimism, and the album’s lead single Old Skool hits all the right notes; a simple, earworm bassline providing the loop for an effortlessly cool (and consciously jealous) ditty on privileged west London party scenesters while rhythmic percussion jangles and synths stab your ears at obtuse angles - all helped along by Beastie Boys’ turntablist and Mount’s childhood hero Mix Master Mike.

The synths are played with a real sense of michschievous fun in Miami Logic, playing hide-and-seek with melody but getting away with it, while the ‘80s-styled Night Owl defies you not to dance and the optimistic Love’s Not An Obstacle will leave you dewy-eyed.

Mount’s favourite is his duet with Swedish popstrel Robyn, Hang Me Out To Dry, mixed by Erol Alkan and exuding a sense of late-night adventure and excitement behind the wheel.

Mount might be using a now-familiar potion of ingredients, but he’s carried it off with panache and vibrancy.

Rating: 3/5 stars