The annals of rock history are littered with individuals who’ve come a cropper to excess, and UMO’s Ruban Nielson was almost one of them. Fortunately, the Portland-based Kiwi knocked the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll on the head before things went too “Keith Moon” and, after a year of R&R, he’s just returned with a superb second studio effort. Littered with references to loneliness, II certainly bears the battle scars of that debauched debut tour, but it’s offset sonically by a strain of sun-warped psychedelia so lo-fi you can practically hear the warm crackle of vinyl. According to Nielsen, the album was influenced by Led Zeppelin and Al Green, but if you’re after some more contemporary points of reference, we reckon it’d nestle snugly in your collection between Ariel Pink and Tame Impala.