Grumbling Fur, now down to the duo of Daniel O'Sullivan and Alexander Tucker, return with this EP, and a move to a poppier sound.

Poppy is, of course, relative, and this is not likely to hit the mainstream airwaves any time soon, yet opening track 'Wylderness Waiting' immediately recalls the art rock-meets-80s pop of O'Sullivan's Mothlite project.  Although slightly more wandering over its seven minutes, the piece would not be too out of place on Mothlite's recent Dark Age full length, O'Sullivan's croon taking the fore ahead of piano, drums and an array of warm synth tones.  The piece has a hypnotic feel with the slightest hint of eastern melody.

If that track hinted at winding, hypnotic repetition, the centrepiece of the record, 'Solar Nights & Rainwater', reaches its logical conclusion.  Rolling percussion and droning, repetitive piano drive the song towards a meditative post-rock sound, while layered vocals repeat murmured mantras that seem to exist for musical effect rather than pure lyrical meaning.

The opening thirty seconds of 'Huthering Whites' break the uplifting mood momentarily, but as the track comes together with layers of piano and strings, a sense of almost spiritual peace re-emerges.  The instrumental track concludes the deconstruction that has appeared over the course of the record, a long way from pop music once again.

Alice is a marvellous record that reveals new depths with each successive listen, and suggests wonderful things to come for Grumbling Fur.  Highly recommended to fans of O'Sullivan's other projects, and art rock in general.