Peace struggle for depth, excitement and creative inspiration on third outing.

The third album from Peace supposedly marks a new dawn for the Midlands four-piece. The indie power-pop of yore, however, is still very much in evidence despite a new record label, countryside writing retreat and producer (in Simone Felice – Bat For Lashes, The Lumineers).

Lead singer Harry Koiser has ditched the drink and embraced yoga and meditation, penning a clutch of more personal songs that reveal his own anxieties, mental health struggles (the languid guitar number From Under Liquid Glass) and artistic voice (the cloying torch-song title track, complete with gospel choir and boisterous horn).

However, only the most dedicated will pick up much of a shift from its predecessors’ mid-paced, lyrically anaemic and derivative indie-pop – they still come across like The Wombats on Valium.

You Don’t Walk Away From Love’s pop sheen is almost blinding, while both Magnificent and Silverlined are plodding and narcissistic. Angel strives for introspection but just circles in its own creative cul-de-sac.

“Any idiot can sing it in a song” Koiser admits in slovenly power-pop sign-off Choose Love. Quite.

Rating: 2/5 stars