James McGregor (vocals, guitar), Sean Connelly (guitar), Tom Freeman (bass) and Damian Greaney (drums) did not let the curtailing of live music put a dampener on their progress. Instead, The Clockworks have used lockdown to take their rattling anthems to the next level. “One good thing that came from not playing live is we weren’t writing songs to play live, we were writing songs to be creative,” says Connelly.

A clattering blend of defiant hooks, searing guitar lines, rhythmic precision and sharp lyricism, it presents a band on the cusp of a big breakthrough. After a run of impressive early singles, The Clockworks have honed their sound down to the vital ingredients, no fat, nothing superfluous, everything you hear on it is there because it needs to be there. It is a feat of musical engineering from four people who have spent so long in each other’s time they have become simpatico. McGregor’s words blur the lines between the mundane and fantastical, crafting something universal out of life’s small print.