- No sophomore slump for the Bombay Royale! The rambling eleven-piece extravaganza from Melbourne brings us a sprawling psychedelic landscape in the form of their second album The Island Of Dr Electrico. Renowned for their unique fusion of Indian melodies and instrumentation inspired by 60’s Bollywood and filmi music with Western tropes of funk, surf and disco, The Bombay Royale live in their own Tarantino-directed spy movie, adopting alter-egos and jumping out of airplanes as seen in the clip for the debut single 'Henna Henna'.

Incorporating and reimagining such a diverse spread of musical influences from all over the globe could prove a messy business and ultimately unsatisfying, but no such issues here. The stellar musicianship of this tight ensemble ensures clarity of vision, as crafted by musical director and saxophonist Andy Williamson.

Henna Henna begins with a wistful Bengali call and response between lead singers Parvyn Kaur Singh and Shourov Bhattacharya (AKA the Mysterious Woman and The Tiger) before plunging into a rhythmic hip-wriggling beat, complete with wailing horn section, warm analogue synths and chugging surf guitar. Gyara 59's melancholic harmonica transports you to a Mexican standoff straight out of a spaghetti Western – you can almost see the sweat rolling down Clint's forehead as he squints into the sun, and The Bombay Twist gives us straight up 60's surf with a Bollywood twist, complete with evil laugh, hand claps, sampled vocal snatches, warbling sitar and bizarre space laser sound effects a la Man or Astro-Man?

This album is an ever-evolving pastiche of musical form, each song weaving its own lurid storyline. The Bombay Royale have achieved the near impossible in the modern indie music scene – a true marriage between genres separated by era, culture, country and origin. The production is flawless - I adore that crunchy saturated drum sound, coupled with twanging bombastic guitar and thumping funk bass. The Island of Dr Electrico is a true original and a brisk slap in the face to anyone daring to claim that 'everything's been done'.

- Hayley Elliott-Maclure.