Launching into the record with “Extra Terrestrial,” No Hot Ashes take us intergalactic from the moment go, with dark-matter dense basslines, choruses designed to be shouted to the heavens and lyrics inspired by that telepathic connection you feel when you meet the one you love. “Motion Sick” dazzles with the reflective sheen of astronaut’s vizor; a track about loneliness of too much “space-cruising” away from your loved ones. “Paradise/Overdrive” makes the jump from the light-speed powered side one of the album to land with a slower, weightless proposition propelled by smooth jazz chord arrangements and an elating chorus about getting high. Astronomically, speaking.

Elsewhere the Hardship Starship docks to observe a desolate, conflict ravaged, post-apocalyptic land, known to local inhabitants as…the United Kingdom. With his typical down-to-earth wit and charm, chief lyricist Isaac Taylor here addresses the economic inequality felt across the nation (“CAR”), “Trouble” nods to violent crime and desperation, whereas “Indecision/Intermission” provides an implosive big bang moment about Brexit and broken Britain; with ex-Imperial overlord David Cameron even making a guest appearance on the lattermost track. Hardship Starshipjudders to a close with “Hey Casanova,” one of the band’s biggest sing-along moments to date with an accelerating drumbeat and sky scraping indie riffage setting a course for the stars with trailblazing style.

Hardship Starship was produced by Chris Taylor (The Coral, Everything Everything, Ian Brown, Bill Ryder Jones) at Parr Street studios in Liverpool.