Electro-folk Londoner James Yuill returns with his third full-length album, having built his reputation on crafting acoustic numbers backed by soft synths and oodles of feeling, making music that’s sugary, hard-hitting and frankly, wonderful. This new effort sees Yuill depart from that formula and toy with ’90s trance, hard house and dabble in dazzling pop.

Yuill encroaches upon house territory on much of the record, injecting rapid techno beats, rave-inspired synths and killer pace. It’s a far cry from the folktronica he cut his teeth on. The exuberant emotionality still exists in some form, but it’s no longer a nuanced thing – these are chart-poised pop gems with intense, viral catchiness and barefaced hooks. He may still be one man noodling with a guitar and a few synths, but, like whinnying diva Ellie Goulding, he’s a fully-fledged pop star now. Most of these tracks wouldn’t be out of place filed alongside Passion Pit or bashed out after any cookie cutter R’n’B monstrosity at a nightclub. That may sound like a criticism, but it’s meant to be more of a commentary on how far he’s come from his roots.

Lead single ‘Turn Yourself Around’ seems more like something Darude would whip up than a track by Yuill. Throbbing bass dominates the sound and pitchier synths accent the deep wobbing; metronomic percussion ensures maximum hip-shake potential. This uncharacteristic sound is juxtaposed with anxious lyrics: “Life is scary when it starts”. ‘Lost In California’ is equally danceable, with ’80s tribal synths, shuffly kick drums and brutal arpeggios providing simple rhythm. It’s a dark cut, on which it seems like tragedy is lurking just around the next corner. ‘Let It Go’ is trancier. Everything echoes, synths are euphorically whirring, pirouetting around stampede beats and duelling vocals soar amidst the organised chaos.

There are still some moments of acoustica, but these are largely overshadowed by the pomp of his glossy new direction. ‘Carrie’ is over-sentimental and a bit fawning, ‘Just A Little Further’ is avant-garde electro-acoustic experimentation (which is actually pretty great) and both ‘Second Hand Steinway’ and ‘Old-Fashioned’ just feel out of place. It’s possible these cuts would fare better on one of his previous records, but sidled in with the neon glitz, they feel lacklustre, a case of unfortunate contrast. The tracks with a more overt electronic touch tend to be the better moments on These Spirits.

The record is a semi-cohesive lurch forward into an unknown realm. There are some weaker links in Yuill’s chain, and it feels as if he’s spent so long tweaking and perfecting the newer material, he’s neglected the tracks which hark back to his origins. If he had more confidence in filling the release with this fresh synthpop, he’d find himself with an album difficult to fault. As it is, the quality is a bit inconsistent, which is a shame, as the bits that are good are really, really good.