Having had support from BBC Radio 1 for their debut single ‘Ambi’, it seemingly didn’t take Welsh alt-rock crew Veins long to gain attention. In a world that’s absolutely flooded with new music on a weekly basis, that’s particularly impressive, but then again, Veins aren’t your average rock band.

‘Ambi’ fused a crunchy sound with hugely melodic vocals, and the way a prominent bass was used to lead gave the band an instant feeling of muscle, while leaving the lead guitar enough space to drop some very atmospheric lines. The band built upon a very mature sound with ‘Blood On My Hands’, a complex number that shifted between waltzing melodies and prog-fuelled time signatures allowing some busy musicianship to counter another very strong vocal, and with the brilliant ‘Reign Down’, they showed it was possible to combine the tones of ‘Fear of A Blank Planet’ era Porcupine Tree with the darkness of early Deftones and yet still serve up something easily recognisable as being Veins.

They’ve returned with ‘Sunlight’, which could just be their best song to date. The opening beats and bass sound set a great atmosphere in place, recalling a couple of the quieter Deftones/Team Sleep numbers, and this is overlaid by some great echoing guitar which lends the slightly retro sounding alt-rock an almost prog-like quality, once again. The music’s great – particularly the lead into the instrumental section which vaguely echoes U2’s ‘Into The Heart’ (certainly not deliberately) and the subsequent crashy rhythms colliding against a wall of synths – but it’s an aching vocal from Stevie Rees that steals the show, almost sounding close to tears when delivering lyrics regarding people who are “as delicate as glass” and questioning whether the number’s protagonist is “magician [or] wolf”.

In terms of emotive rock sounds, this is almost perfect. Take a listen below.