They have never been a particularly upbeat band, so when Montreal’s The Dears proclaim their seventh album to be among their darkest to date, you have some idea of what’s in store.

Even so, there is light amidst the shadows cast by Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak's band, heard in glimmers on the playful, dramatic indie flourishes of 1998, the softness of I Love You Times Infinity and the colourful, cluttered buzz of Of Fisticuffs.

Elsewhere, there is a delicious sense of defiance and despair on the Radiohead-esque Nothing In It For Me, Nothing In It For You, while All the Hail Marys begins with sombre organ before erupting into a mass of noise and zippy synths. Seven albums in, they're still capable of surprises. Thedears.org

Download: Nothing in it for Me, Nothing in it for You, 1998