EVERY now and again along comes something quite unexpected that reminds you why music both excites and delights you.
Galashiels has been a hotbed for underground collaborations and, at times, bizarre compositions and experiments over the past decade or so.
More than often these releases involving remnants of Dawn of the Replicants and other reasonably successful alternative local bands of the 1990s deserve a much bigger audience than they ever achieve.
And one new project on the Gala-based Of Human Bonding label that arrived in the inbox this week certainly fits that mould.
Our Waves Collide, I am told, is not so much a band, but rather 'a unique collaboration of musicians who record in various combinations and permutations'.
Well, whatever that actually means, it works.
The debut four-track Neural Paths EP, featuring the vocal delights of Hanna Durham, Dawn Berry, Sue Bremner, Alison Lenton and Natasha Bloxham, is sublime.
Awash with emotion and melody, these songs convey the type of depth, creativity and honesty that is so sadly lacking in the everyday playlists we're usually subjected to.
As with label mates Electron Mass and Blinking in Terror, Our Waves Collide is hard to pin down.
Imagine Shirley Bassey and Elaine Paige being introduced to psychedelia, classical and electronica all at once - I can't either.
But these collaborators have created something special.
From the atmospheric Neural Paths, religiously pure Survival Machine, and meandering masterpiece Messengers, to perhaps the most beautiful song of 2018, Agony, this EP is a thing of wonder.
The release from Of Human Bonding understates: "We gave Our Waves Collide an over-arching creative mission - to present an honest interpretation of the human condition, through dark, but melodic songs about Love, Loss, Life and Death.
"Under the direction of Of Human Bonding, different indie-rock and orchestral musicians were brought together to work on the recordings, along with a revolving line-up of singers, to perform the lead vocal duties."
The Neural Paths EP by Our Waves Collide is released on December 1 - but the tracks can be previewed on www.ofhumanbonding.com
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here