Never has something more apt been seen on my monitor. When I inserted the promo for Yeasayer’s debut album All Hour Cymbals, it classified it as “World Music”. My initial reaction was one of bewilderment, but as the weeks have ticked by it’s made more and more sense.

Mightily hyped on the other side of the Atlantic, this New York collective have garnered MTV’s stamp as one of the bands from this years SXSW “That Will Matter”. With a tag like that, it was always going to be a struggle to live up to it. How on earth All Hour Cymbals will feature on the current lacklustre line-up of MTV will beggar belief. This is not indie-rock as you might be know it. Their ethnic and worldly music has more in common with artists like TV On The Radio or Akron/ Family and Angels of Light. It’s not world music par say, its music that’s been influenced by cultures and music outside the normal sphere of influence.

Beginning with the gospel and a cappella tinged “Sunrise” its crisp drumming and keyboards remind me of Talk Talk as they began their descent into artistic diversion on The Colour of Spring. They too explored the more rhythmic nature of music, infusing separate areas of musical development and made, for all intents and purposes, pop music from the resulting mess. Recent single “2080” is one of the best tracks of the year. Its rambling drums, trickling guitar and basic vocals bring Tears for Fears to mind before it changes tact and the song kicks free of its shackles during the chorus. The lyrics “It’s a new year” burst to life around harmonious vocals and swooping noises galore.

Each track explores different notions of music. The plodding, sinister “No Need To Worry” entwines piano and sinister drums before the harmonic vocals kick in, sounding angelic and floating free of the confines of the song. It has a semi-religious vibe, like being reborn from the darkness into the light. “Forgiveness” is altogether something different. It’s crafted from a cut and shut of layered, esoteric vocals all colliding off one another. A simple guitar riff then percolates through the song, the vocals layered on top of it, but simply executed. “Worms” returns to this almost religious feeling. Maybe lamenting what happens after death, it sounds so positive and uplifting that you can’t feel negative about it. The simple clipped drums wrapped around the duelling guitar riffs sound like they’re picking out objects on distant horizons and then heading, full speed, towards them. There’s also times where the guitar riffs and sonic exploration takes a turn down the road marked “prog”. But fear not, they know the way back and rarely stray too long down those dark lanes.

If there’s one problem with this album is that, over its eleven songs, this almost reverential, gospel delivery, feels like a sermon that’s perhaps gone on a bit too long. They’ve got so many ideas that songs, even though you think they’ve finished, will meander onto more spiritual plains. The last two minutes of “Worms” for instance disappears in a sea of twinkling guitars and keyboards as if you’re on some kind of inter-galaxy express. It’s also worth mentioning that All Hour Cymbals is a bit of a grower. When I first played it, I was disappointed in it’s meandering sparseness. However, after a number of further plays it truly revealed itself. It’s such a complex record that it deserves your time and attention, it’s complex rhythms and topics aren’t one that are easily absorbed first time around. Persevere with it and you’ll be rewarded.

What we have here though is a band with an amazing vision. One that hasn’t been constrained by anything else that’s going on around them. They’ve found a voice and a musical rift that they’re going to follow, no matter where it takes them.