The dream-pop sparkle of Smut’s How The Light Felt (2022) gestures towards one of the lesser-walked paths of 90s revivalism, with hooks and a wistful energy that crib lovingly from Swervedriver and Lush. It’s a trek into throwback territory that never uses its reference points as a crutch, not least because tracks such as ‘After Silver Leaves’ and ‘Morningstar’ exhibit a craft equal to their antecedents. In another dimension (or perhaps simply another era), this would have been a chart-stormer. 

Filed at the back of Smut’s rolodex of influences is Bark Psychosis’ debut Hex (1994), a maudlin post-rocker lingering in the space between sleep and wakefulness. Each arrangement is a series of left turns, unfurling with a wild array of instrumental flourishes before retreating into sparse bass lines. Disaffection in the 90s was popularised by the roguishness of Pavement or Slint, but this southern English quartet carry a greater weight on their shoulders, every muttered vocal and catatonic time signature an exhalation of unwavering apathy. 

Other H listens: Here Come The Warm Jets by Brian Eno (1974), Hats by The Blue Nile (1989), Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom (2010).