There’s always a danger of writing yourself into a corner when you release an obscure cover as your debut single – especially when it’s as good as last year’s thoroughly dance-friendly ‘Who Do You Love?’  For listeners unfamiliar with the source material of an unoriginal debut, a first encounter with a collection of original tracks can be alienating; especially if they were expecting material cut from the same cloth – an expectation the band is unlikely to be able to fulfil. And, indeed, this is the risk that Museum of Bellas Artes runs with debut EP Days Ahead. There’s no need to carry out an internet search to discover that ‘Who Do You Love?’ was actually penned by a sixties band called The Sapphires. Listening to these four new tracks makes the fact plain enough. And, of course, the make or break question for any band in this position is: can the self-penned material stand up to that beguiling debut cover song?

Chad Valley is the pseudonym for Hugo Manuel – a somewhat strange choice considering it’s also the name of a toy manufacturer. Fear not though, for this Chad Valley does not produce hard, plastic noisy things you’re forever tripping over and tidying up. This Chad Valley has more of an energetic, colourful – yet strangely tranquil – feel about him.

Releasing an EP must be a liberating experience. It gives a chance for any band to smash the shackles of expectation associated with the album making process, unburdening the artist from any stylistic choices imposed by themselves or the studio. In the case of Songs for Singles, Torche have cut their own reigns as the eight slabs of pop metal on offer here practically fly out the stalls, sounding suspiciously like they’re pumped up on performance enhancing drugs.

The opener to Tomorrow Night We’ll Go Anywhere starts similarly to the ‘demo’ on keyboards that were around in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s – a clunky drum beat and an almost-melody that sounds like an electric clarinet. Evan Voytas’s vocals drift in as if on their own cloud, but the whole thing still sounds like it was made in a basement twenty years ago. Voytas grew up listening to ‘60s and ‘70s pop music, and the retro feel is certainly evident throughout the EP.  Influences range from T Rex to Daft Punk, and in the first track in particular, this is obvious.