British Sea Power are back with the first single from their forthcoming sophomore effort, Open Season, and I for one, am very happy about it. It has been too long since their magnificently windswept and unique debut, The Decline Of... graced our ears.

It Ended On An Oily Stage closely follows the distinctive pattern set by the debut album: four strikes of the bass drum and straight into a tune as melodic and catchy as you could hope for. Lyrically and vocally, of course it's utterly individual - Yan's voice gently whispering quintessentially literate BSP lyrics like "I wrote elegiac stanzas for you/I hope and pray that they come true".

It is truly lovely - a sweeping masterpiece that promises much for Open Season. Oft-cited Joy Division and Cure comparisons are obsolete, because there never has - nor probably will be - another band quite like British Sea Power, and this terrific single just goes on proving that fact.