CASINO ROYALE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Almost a decade has passed since long-serving Italian band Casino Royale released their last full-length excursion, making this surprise return to action a more than welcome development. Apparently inspired by "bewilderment and the search for a direction to follow as individuals as a community", it combines some of the band's previous musical themes - dusty trip-hop, string-drenched downtempo grooves, nods to fuzzy alternative rock and murky pop - with flashes of dubstep, Morricone-style orchestrated pieces, spoken word (in their native Italian, of course) and bubbly electronica. It's hard to pigeonhole but undeniably atmospheric and entertaining, while the packaging (which includes a luminous cover and a nice insert) is equally as impressive.