Dan Le Sac releases his debut solo album ‘Space Between The Words’ on Sunday Best. Written, produced and with vocals from Dan himself, the album features collaborations with Emmy The Great, Merz, Sarah Williams White, B. Dolan, Joshua Idehen and Pete Hefferan.

Taking a step sideways from the percussive atmospherics that were the backdrop to Scroobius Pip’s words on their Top 40 albums ‘Angles’ (2008) and ‘The Logic Of Chance’ (2010), Dan embraces everything from electro-pop to psychedelia, all accompanied by an impressive array of vocal talent.

Along the way he lets the spotlight fall on some wonderful, fresh new vocalists, as well as working with one of his musical heroes, the cult electronic folk singer Merz, who appears on the album’s opening number, a pulsing house-pop gem, ‘Long Night Of Life’ and the lush melodic song ‘Zephyr’ that seems to have escaped from the late 1960s via Le Sac’s electronica time machine.

Dan hasn’t veered completely away from rap and spoken word as the groovy, chatted ‘Tuning’ shows, a collaboration with longterm peer and poet Joshua Idehen.

There are also two songs featuring rising mic master B. Dolan, the bass-punching party tune ‘Good Time Gang War’ and the crafty, crunk-tinted smasher, ‘Caretaker’.

An established name who contributes her unique voice to ‘Space Between The Words’ is Emmy The Great. ‘Memorial’ is a delightful surprise, it has a touch of Shirley Bassey Bond theme about it, albeit filtered through clubbier beats.

Elsewhere Dan showcases hot rising singers Sarah Williams White and Pete Hefferan, formerly of Pete & The Pirates, who sings on one of the album’s two covers, a deliciously doleful, piano-tinted take on Arab Strap’s ‘Cherubs’, a tune Dan had wanted to record for years.

Dan Le Sac’s reputation for vibrant good times at festivals and club nights is unarguable, but he’s also proved with ‘Space Between The Words’ that he’s a musical force to be reckoned with, creating a smart, zingy debut shot that will appeal to fans of indie, dance, hip hop, electronica and much else besides. One to file alongside Metronomy, Hot Chip and Field Music as a sharply individual snapshot of modern pop’s endless possibilities.