Lewsberg are that most special of propositions, a group of artists who’ve forged their own universe that spirals out into limited runs, splinter projects, different media but always Lewsberg. There’s a rudimentary genius in every song and structure, borrowed in parts from the likes of Velvets or early 80s DIY enthusiasm, a kind of stapled-together minimalism that, when it’s all combined amounts to a treatise on the world and how to live in it.

Recorded in Amsterdam in the early spring of 2023 with producer Yulya Divakova, Out And About sees founding members Shalita Dietrich (vocals, bass guitar), Michiel Klein (guitar) and Arie van Vliet (vocals, guitar, violin) joined for the first time on record by drummer and vocalist Marrit Meinema, who joined the band in the autumn of 2021. More developed than much of their previous work, with a gorgeous focus on melody, much of Out And About feels like Tucker-era Velvets covering the sombre, star-lit version of Yo La Tengo that everyone quite rightly adores.

With every member of Lewsberg contributing songwriting, more than ever the band sounds nonhierarchical and essential with a new cohesion filtering through all the songs and songwriters. Lewsberg feels like introspection of the best kind, the songs seem to dissect the rudimentals of day to day life, examining each action, each ritual and emotion in a way that acknowledges the beauty, banality and absurdity of today and now. On this outing there are shades of Raincoats, of Marine Girls perhaps and most importantly of a stark simplicity that frequently tips over into beauty.