Alright, so if I were to recommend to you a concept EP from a Mancunian, alternative rock 4 piece that was about a robot in an apocalyptic age, you might well take a step back and proceed to look at me as if I was trying to convince you that dog shit is made out of candyfloss. But please, do hear me out on this one, because trust me, if you can just get over the absurdity and perhaps pomposity of the concept, you'll find a musically rewarding little gem underneath it all.

The Culprits behind afore mentioned EP are Swansea Love Story, a band who play the sort of easy on the ears, inoffensive alt. rock that fuses the pop sensibilities of the artists like Doves with the slight nod towards experimentalism that you might expect from a band like Wilco. In fact if you're a fan of Wilco, then I would say that this release has about a 99% chance of striking a chord with you. 
Labyrinth is an EP that seems to evolve intelligently as it runs it's short, 5 song course. Such evolution is for me, the foundation on which a good concept record ought to be built, so full marks on that front! The EP's opener Neon X, treats us to a simple, yet addictive wander through twinkling glockenspiel hits juxtaposed with warm fuzzy guitar riffs, which are powerful, but not in a way that destabalises the track at all. It's just one of those tracks that perfectly compliments letting your eyes glaze over and your mind drift aimlessly amidst a haze of thoughts. Which is nice because the following track, Neon Aftermath continues in a similar vein, this time with chripy synths being introduced to the mix. Now this is a common pitfall for bands, as quite often adding electronics to a song takes away the organic feel a song has, but SLS manage to pull it off seamlessly, and it makes for a really pleasant surprise when a robotic backing vocal kicks in to give the song an extra bit of weight. The song, Lights could be considered a slight midway blip in the EP as it seems to lack inspiration in comparison to the other tracks. But that said, it's certainly nothing that would ever put you off listening to the song, it's just a shame that SLS's other songs outshine it.

As mentioned before, this is a concept EP that tells a story about a robot and it's "owner", so it doesn't come as too much of a surprise that the lyrical content touches on being borderline philosophical, particularly towards the final couple of songs. And this is something that I really appreciate, it adds an extra layer of depth which is what makes this record really stand out from the pack. It feels as if Labyrinth grows artistically richer as it progresses, adopting lyrical nuances amidst a confrontation of sounds that all seem to blur together in a way that echoes the feelings that Swansea Love Story are trying to invoke. This fantastic EP all leads up to an emotional climax in its closing track, where a reverberating, melancholic voice repeats, "this could be the end" over blissed out guitars and morbid bass that pulses like the weary thudding of a dying heart. It's a delicate end to a finesse musical journey.