Album number 11 from the venerable Æ is arguably their finest for over a decade. 'Exai' marks the pairing of Sean Booth and Rob Brown at a refreshed peak of their powers with scant compromise to the challenging and forward thinking nature of their music. And for a duo now well into their third decade of collaboration, that's a rare thing indeed. Their beats are astutely modern, refracting traces of Techno, dubstep, house, hip hop, D&B and electro with signature flair, while their palette banks of computerized sounds are intangibly abstract, machinelike, yet provoking unmistakably human emotional responses, whether that's curiosity, fear, elation or just sheer trippiness - most likely some integer that doesn't have a name yet. For the hip hop die hard there's the masterstroke of percussive comtrails and subbass unfolding over ten minutes of 'Cloudline', and to much more desolate, transporting effect on 'Bladelores' - surely another classic in their canon - and this body is partial to the next level step-flex of 'Runrepik', bringing back panic attack flashbacks from their 'Untilted' tour. Ultimately, this record doesn't patronize its listeners or the dancefloor (that pitch black warehouse idyll in the corner of our hivemind); it prods and tweaks, fascinates, challenges and gratifies in abundance.

Deluxe quadruple 180g vinyl housed in rigid box slipcase wrapped in Cairn Eco Kraft with clear foil block to front. Includes digital download code redeemable from the label**