Regular Supajam readers will remember The Doppler Shift from reaching the final of Fast Track to FIB 2013, where they impressed the judging panel. Since then we’ve been waiting for new material, and here we have it, the new Hush House EP from the Brighton band.

We apologise in advance for the hyperbole, but The Doppler Shift do more than just write lyrics: they carefully craft psychodramas to play with your heart and head, and don’t so much write music as create a towering edifice to hang their flags. They did it to perfection on their last EP, and they do it again just as effectively here. The new Hush House EP has just five songs, but it stands up to almost any album in terms of the sustained success and vision behind it.

Over the top? They have a knack for singing words which can capture the feeling of whole tracks in one short verse and are delivered in a worn, aged vocal that uses a few tricks on this EP, including the slightly fuzzy effects on the wonderful opener ‘Tell Tale Signs of Giving Up’, through the frequent falsetto, to a howl of anger. That opening ends with the repeated refrain “no you cannot”, and it’s the opposite of self-help mantras. But it’s not all about the words. Their music rises and falls, swells and comes right up to your ear, giving intimacy and the universe, but rarely giving you just a straight path: everything shifts. They also have a wry sense of humour, singing “things that don’t kill us will just try again,” and have the heart to touch you. Imagine if Muse liked Lovecraft, Gaiman and Nick Cave instead of conspiracy theories, aliens and Queen. With a bit of Martin Grech thrown in early on, if anyone remembers him.

But there’s always a negative, and that’s the front cover which is awful.

Doomed, redeemed, music for the soul and the emotions. Put the Hush House EP together with their Lost Art of Living EP from earlier this year and we have no hesitation in giving them a 10 / 10 album of the year contender.