The major problem with ‘The Witch’ by Southampton three-piece The Maddisons is that it’s too short. An overlong mid-section where nothing really happens, combined with a running time just over the two minute mark, means that The Maddisons never make enough out of all this song’s good points. Consequently, it’s all too easy to overlook them.

A prime example of this are the distorted “whoo-whoo” vocals that sweep past on waves of crashing riffs. This is guaranteed to get your blood pumping and make you want to experience this song live, but then the exhilarating guitars cut out while still in full swing and the song lurches uncomfortably into a period of enjoyment-sapping strumming and murmured vocals. This seems to be The Maddisons’ stab at creating atmosphere, but it’s a few sound effects short of unsettling, and you’ll just be biding your time until the guitars kick back in and this song gets fun again. Easing the listener more gently into the mid-section and shovelling on the atmospherics might have made this section work but, as it stands, it’s neither here not there.

However, niggles aside ‘The Witch’ is packed with intriguing lyrics, experimental flourishes and those exhilarating “whoo-whoo” vocals that makes it possible to overlook the fact that it feels like there’s about a minute missing off the end of this song.