COMING new to the Super Furries late on, it's a pleasure to discover that Hey Venus is packed with catchy tunes and an intro which tips a self-acknowledged cheeky wink at listeners with lyrics like "opens up nicely to the harder stuff and once you get hooked you can't get enough".

In all honesty, although the boast is a confident one it isn't far wrong.

SFA are accomplished at producing top quality music and this is their eighth studio album, so they know what they're doing.

The overall effect is like receiving a big hug from a friend.

Eminently cheerful strumming guitars take you equally well through slow and fast numbers with a hint of the odd sitar thrown in to let you know you're listening to something a little more special.

Lyrics blend the poetic and the ordinary in just the right way to lift you up and Gruff Rhys's rich Welsh voice moves from Damon Albarn in early Blur, through a hint of Jarvis and into a world of its own with supreme confidence.

An album you can listen to all the way through and wish an extra track would get thrown in.

Luckily for me, I get to go and explore the back catalogue now.

AT