The latest release from British band The Horrors, Skying, is a smart blend of dark ’80s New Wave and Brit-pop with gothic musings.

After being dropped from their record label and taking the brunt of some less-than-noteworthy reviews, the pressure to create something that would live up to Primary Colours was abundant. With Skying they have succeeded. The approach is more toned down and introspective but still captivating.

From the very start, the album will transport you into a completely different environment. The rough and heavily synthesized guitar chords and bopping keyboard notes of “Changing the Rain” flow into the peppy and ska-infused composition of “You Said.”  “Still Life” is a provokingly smooth song and driving song. It is the first single off the album, and a rather impressive one at that. It builds slowly, hooks you, settles into your eardrums, and takes you on quite a lovely ride.

To say the band is of the shoegaze or New Wave  genres is to pigeonhole them. Do they favor these styles? Sure. Do these styles work for them? You bet. But Skying further demonstrates the vast canvas of materials they are working with and their refusal to be knocked down. It looks as if these blokes are determined to continuously churn out well-constructed and enticing music.

(XL Recordings, 304 Hudson Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10013)