Placebo are back! Who’d have thought it! This is their eighth studio album (their first in nine years) and, pleased to report, they still have plenty to say about the human condition in all its messy glory. They remain a band who deftly manage to strip away all the unnecessary fat from their songs, leaving us with an art-rock melange that is nicely wired and toting urgent riffage. And in Brian Molko they have someone who is always capable of turning out an arresting lyric. GM

Released 25 March - So Recordings