A New Tide is the sixth studio album from Gomez, and it's the sound of a band who are seemingly comfortable in their musical skins. The student frivolities of 'Whippin' Piccadilly', the song for which they are probably best remembered, seems a lifetime away, and the new Gomez has evolved into some sort of mature indie butterfly.

After a slew of critical write-offs and record label changes, 2009 finds the band at their creative zenith. A New Tide is probably their most complete and flowing work to date, and it's good to bear in mind that Gomez are definitely an album band. They've never released more than three singles from any of their previous albums, and I can't see that changing with this record.

Play opens casually with 'Mix', whose clean production builds into a blurry fuzz of distortion and bite; this song seems to epitomise the two styles that weave through the album. I've always preferred the upbeat side of the band, but they do delicate and uplifting acoustic pop like nobody else. Ben Ottewell has one of the most recognisable voices in modern indie, and it's prime in 'Little Pieces' with its mountainous chorus. 'If I Ask You Nicely' is sung by Ian Ball, with Ben on the "hey la la" refrain, and it's all super-charged acoustics, a Beck-like groove and hand-clapping finery.

'Win Park Slope'is a bugged out and woozy refrain, with echoes of "you've gotta try to remember" lingering atop fuzzy beats and subdued strings. A New Tide is littered with mega-hooks and super-delicate phrases that hit you full-force after a couple of listens - all of the signs of a grower, not a shower.

'Airstream Driver' is the record's first single; think sunkissed trailerpark lo-fi, in the style of a contemplative Wilco or a stoned Franz Ferdinand, with Flaming Lips-like keyboards. It's the standout track from the record, as it pulses and stomps its way along, trampling all over those oft-heard mid-record lulls. 'Natural Reaction' is the most lovely song on the record, a gorgeous paean with Ben's call of "we can't be alone", as well as a chunky West Coast chorus and a great sidestep into percussion, you'd be mistaken for thinking the band had been listening to Willy Mason all summer long.

'Very Strange' reminds us that Gomez are essentially a guitar band, with a bold chorus riff that sounds like it was written for a trumpet or saxophone - effortlessly melodic, and in great contrast to the minimalism of the hushed verses. Final track 'Sunset Gates' feels like a zoned-out crawl to the finish line, but there's something breathless about it, like zooming down a motorway with your eyes closed.

A New Tide is a Californian-sunkissed triumph, Gomez's unexpected pride and joy, all tanned and pretty and lush.