It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Grouplove, whose last album Big Mess was released in 2016. Shortly after the Big Mess tour, frontwoman Hannah Hooper found out that she needed brain surgery. During that tumultuous time, the group found comfort in their artistic endeavours, which ultimately led to the creation of Healer.

Their most heavily rock-influenced effort to date kicks off with the punchy ‘Deleter’, before ‘Expectations’ throws in a little synth-pop excitement.

As fans have come to expect, the genre-bending band keep the majority of their songs upbeat, while occasionally exploring inner turmoil and the disappointments of life. Though a lot of the material has real emotional punch, from time to time, Grouplove do come up short on the lyrical front.

There’s a lack of depth and originality on certain tracks, especially ‘Youth’, with its tired lines, “The night’s so young/ Let’s set it on fire”. Overall, Healer is more or less what we might expect from Grouplove. It’s a decent album – but it won’t be on many end-of-year Best Album lists.

Check out Grouplove's Healer on Spotify!