There was a time – around 2005 and 2006, to be not precise at all – when all you had to do to create a ‘buzz’ around your new track was slap Justice/Vitalic/Boys Noize Remix in brackets at the end and you were on the way to a winner. These acts made the electro rock sound popular, marketable and an essential component of any vaguely successful club night at the time. Since then, this genre (which, let’s be honest, despite its through-the-roof fun factor was always a bit naff) has been superseded in the hipness league table by dubstep and minimal techno.

That James Ford and Jas Shaw (aka Simian Mobile Disco) considered this development when coming up with a concept for their new album is unlikely, given their creativity and their reputation for innovation, so the reason that Delicacies clearly references old school techno and house is probably: they felt like it.

And good on them. Because while there is no sign of a banger with the sweaty intensity of, say, ‘Hustler’ (off of debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release), this record manages to maintain an impressive level of intricacy and understated drive. The first thing to catch the eye about Delicacies is the sheer length of the songs – only two of the nine songs fail to reach the 8-minute-mark. The other is the song titles, all of which are inspired by rare culinary gems from all over the world. This reviewer would probably pass on a ‘Nerve Salad’ if he was offered one at a dinner party, but the track, which appeared on a 12″ this summer, is much tastier than its title suggests – it opens with a drum pattern than suggests a minimal house remix of ‘Blue Monday’ and then builds into what sounds like a rocket launch looped into an icy beat.

‘Thousand Year Egg’, with its smooth, smoky synth brushes and bleeps owes a fair bit to the BPitch Control school of techno, but the highlight here is ‘Ortolan’ – its title recalling Fuck Buttons’ hypnotic electro beast ‘Olympians’, it is similarly anthemic without actually having a hook or a drop. Its drama, a bit like 99% of The Fall songs, lies in the subtle shifts that underlie its monolithic beats.

After a disappointing, gimmicky second album (Temporary Pleasure), this record might not be as instantly appealing as those first remixes and DJ sets, but it offers a more thought-out, clever side to Simian Mobile Disco.