The Dawn Chorus are an intriguing prospect on paper, a rag-tag collective of musicians playing thematically complex arrangements who count ex Million Dead front-man Frank Turner amongst their rotating cast of characters. Of course Turner has more recently carved out a niche for himself as almost a modern day Bob Dylan and it's that sound (not his post-hardcore past) which informs The Dawn Chorus's often glorious sophomore album. Using the conceit of a carnival as a metaphor for life is an interesting prospect and there are obvious connotations which allow the music to 'go off on one' without sounding forced or overly considered. So to start the album with histrionic carnival fanfare seems perfectly natural, it sets the stage perfectly with a twisted, distorted take on Rain Dogs era Tom Waits.

It's a bit of a red herring as nothing else here really captures the same level of madness, it leads well into the first Frank Turner collaboration though. 'The Guilt' is the first of many songs which sound like they could have quite easily have been written by Nebraskan prodigy Conor Oberst ('The Happiest Home In These Hills' even steals the melody and rhythm from Oberst's own 'Calender Which Hung Itself'). Of course this is hardly a negative comparison and despite the bands roots in Americana there is still a defiant British streak to many of the songs here. 'Relatively Young And Quite In Love' for example displays the lyrical whimsey and easy melodic instincts of Ray Davies or Syd Barrett.

Musically it's a very consistent affair with the swirling atmospherics and eclectic instrumentation often proving a thrilling foil to the direct lyrics. It's a dynamic record too which manages to explore subtle, quiet pastures on tracks such as the dainty 'Pacifists' and the sparse 'Carnival Sound', as well as the more anthemic fare. Star of the show however is the albums centrepiece, the lovelorn beauty of 'Schumann'. The song is named for Robert Schumann, a 19th century composer who's well documented romance with pianist Clara Wieck drove him to madness. The only tangible link to the 'carnival' I can see is that Schumann happened to compose a song called 'Carnaval' which was one of his most famous works, that's of no consequence though. It's just a stunning song which outshines everything else here and could quite easily have found a place on Arcade Fire's classic 'Funeral' album.

Elsewhere there are let downs with 'Carnivalesque' making up for it's lack of a definable melody with a Morricone horn section which sounds frankly out of place and the closing title track coming across as something of an anti-climax. Overall though the record is a success which highlights the talents of an exciting young band who deserve exposure.