"Direct Action", Alternative TV's first studio album since "Opposing Forces" (2015), presents six lengthy instrumental tracks (44 mins) - this extended CD version bolstered by a seventh, previously-unreleased track featuring the late Steve Carter -  which steadily rip apart all expectations as they shed all allusions to rock music in favour of the kind of sonic mutilations that once helped 1979's classic (and Nurse With Wound list endorsed) "Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One)" stumble into weird and wonderful shapes.

"Direct Action" marries guttural electronics to experimental sounds, and through Mark Perry's long perfected mastery of pulling together disparate strands to create something entirely alchemical and invigorating delivers a unique stamp to the ATV story. With the help of collaborators Dave Morgan, Gareth Matthews, Ruth Tidmarsh and Cos Chapman, abstract patterns of dishevelled sound rub alongside occasional percussion, disembodied plasma guitar strums and an oboe groaning in a murky corner. Everything adds up to a whole that's demanding yet completely rewarding as every listen prises open the dark scab of contemporary malaise to reveal something fresh. Easy listening this isn't.