The name Engineers conjures up a fair few images. A scattering of muscle bound, oil splattered workers in dungarees eating a pies on top of a partly constructed skyscraper would be one. Fred Dibnah eating a pie would be another.Such pie eating imagery couldn’t be further from your mind the minute you hit play. Girders, spanners and huge pistons be damned, this is an album that picks you up gently and soon has you moving through the clouds like some kind of sonically powered yogic flyer. From the first few bars of the Harmonium sampling 'Clean Coloured Wine' this is an exercise in naturally powered exploration of the ether. This mix of Krautrock and Shoegaze is about as perfect as it gets, and within seconds you’re drifting in a cloud of ambience that doesn’t let up until the album comes to an end.To separate this album into songs is frankly a fruitless task. There may be lyrical themes that run throughout, but you’ll be too tied up in Simon Phipp’s voice to care what he’s actually singing about. His apathetic drone is similar to that of Kevin Shields’ dreamy delivery in that no matter how much he sounds like he doesn’t care; everything is simply dripping in emotion. The cleverly layered vocals drift across every track providing yet another level of instrumentation, and to get lost in the whirl of drone and elation is a wondrous experience. Engineers create songs that you’d expect to hear from angels puffing away on their fag break.The album kicks off with a glorious double punch and doesn’t let up from there. 'Sometimes I Realise' chugs brilliantly; an insurgent bass line propels Phipps towards a meaty chorus that’s a cross between the rock world and the hymnal. Glorious is almost an adequate adjective to describe it although it doesn’t quite do it justice.A slight dip follows with 'International Dirge', which inexplicably cribs a vocal melody from an old Foo Fighters ballad. From here on though Engineers really can’t be faulted.Title track 'Three Fact Fader' is a beautiful mix of seething synths, electro bass lines and shimmering guitars. Like the moment the sun hits the sea at the end of the day, it’s impossible not to be taken in by the sheer scale of the spectacle before you.'Emergency Room' is initially far more erratic than much of Three Fact Fader, but soon settles down into a frantic Velvet Underground type drone. The guitars are basic but steeped with an uncomfortable treble sound that gives away the worry and uncertainty that lies at the heart of the song. The string quartet that cuts through towards the end of the song serves to heighten the drama of a song that was written around the emotions experienced when a loved one is rushed to hospital.Just when you think Engineers have reached the peak of their talents they go and push the envelope even further. If your knees don’t go weak when 'The Fear Has Gone' finally explodes in a haze of guitars and guttural string cascades then you clearly have no soul. If Wagner was playing stadiums, he’d undoubtedly have a better lightshow than Bon Jovi, and he’d probably encore with this ”“ it is simply astounding.Three Fact Fader is a massively assured record from a band who clearly know exactly what they want and how to achieve it. This could be one of the best records you’ll hear this year. 85%Engineers on MySpace