Oh Minnows is a band formed by Chicagoan Chris Steele-Nicholson, formerly of short-lived London-based band Semifinalists. To those of us who even vaguely remember Semifinalists, it will come as no surprise to learn that the band originally met at film school, and disbanded after their second record, 2008’s 2, so that lead guitarist Ferry Gouw could pursue a career as a director. Their music was singularly cinematic: full of reach-for-the-stars choruses and always hurtling towards a fist-pumping finale, while their lyrics continually strove to establishing-shot descriptive visuals, often at the expense of evoking any real feeling (“and then we sat on a bench facing the river in the dark” being a memorably offensive example). Disappointingly, their ambition all too frequently outstripped their ability.

On For Shadows, Steele-Nicholson’s debut as Oh Minnows, his attempts to live up to the potential offered by his previous act are admirable. While “anthemic” — that most ugly, over-used word in pop criticism — is not one that would be totally out of place here, it’d also be unfair to criticise him for not taking pains to correct some of Semifinalists’ more glaring flaws. When the strings start to bulge on the penultimate track ‘Everyday’ we begin to feel we’re in familiar territory, before Steele-Nicholson reins everything back in, and the song evolves into a slow-burning ballad, content to make its point without losing itself in bombast. It’s reflective, in a sense, of the whole album, which never pulls its punches — and certainly aims for stadium-sized rock on occasion, as on the effects-laden conclusion to ‘At the Rehersal’ — but continually demonstrates enough self-awareness and restraint so as to not undermine its own good intentions.

It would be difficult to argue that there is a great deal of originality on display here, but as impressive as Steele-Nicholson’s new-found sense of control is the way he channels his influences, interpolating the soaring, orchestral influences of Semifinalists — The Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips, Deserter’s Songs-era Mercury Rev — with a more grounding brand of indie rock. The mathematically precise bassline and angular guitar of opener ‘Another Volunteer’ and other moments on the record are reminiscent of Rob Crow’s vastly underrated and sadly ignored Pinback project, while ‘Some Reasons Why’ makes intelligent use of Postal Service-esque production to ease out of, and perhaps undercut, the heady, swirling, psychadelic end of the previous track, the slow-burning minor highlight ‘The Nightmare Floor’. Perhaps Oh Minnow’s closest bedfellows of recent times is Band of Horses, another band who succeed in combining the pomp and orchestration of their heroes with a more accessible pop sensibility. The artwork for For Shadows has clear similarities with the artwork for all three Band of Horses records; the natural, space-gazing photography going some way toward echoing the ambitions of the music of both bands.

Despite sounding occasionally disjointed, jerking from one mood to another too readily with little sense for narrative flow across the album (mourning loss on penultimate ‘Everyday’, quickly followed by a celebration of love on closer ‘By the Sea’), ultimately Steele-Nicholson has succeeded in creating a record which pulls together what could have been a series of loose threads into what amounts to a coherent whole. It’s an impressively consistent debut in terms of the quality of each song, and demonstrates in its lead songwriter a willingness to grow and to learn from past mistakes. Let’s hope this growth continues.