How often do you listen to an artist’s new album with a pre-conceived notion of what it will be like, only to find it is almost the complete opposite? Prior to listening to The Youngsters new album The Army of 1.0 I really thought I had them sussed. I was sure they would turn the notch up from their previous album, LemonOrange, but instead Frenchmen Gil le Gamin and Olivier Mateau have created one of the most beautifully subdued albums of the past few years.

The Army of 1-0 opens with the soft paced “Opening Theme”, a subtle little drum and bass track which would not be out of place on an Omni Trio album. It’s an atmospheric and spacey little number that gets the album off to a great start.

Second track on the album is “Place, Race & Face”, which also happens to be the first single. “Place, Race & Face” is one of the many highlights of the album and it does stand out a little more than the other tracks- for the simple virtue of it being the most up tempo track. Driving electro beats, quirky beeps and noises and a distorted vocal all melded together into one of the more memorable tracks of the year.

“Raspberry Fields” is another quirky electro number which evokes memories of Aphex Twin at his more chilled moments. “Confidential Music” effortlessly combines haunting detached vocals over ambient string arrangements and jazzy keys. This leads into “The Pink Socks”, the most soulful moment on the album. Sweeping synths lead the way with little or no backbeat throughout the track. Effortlessly following on from “The Pink Socks” is “Café de la Poste”, which again combines lush house sound scapes with a jazz sensibility.

“Laptop Weekend” sees the pace pick up again, though it still retains the lushness of the previous few tracks- this time though combining it with a subtle breakbeat. “Curtains” then kicks in- a brilliant tech-house number, however I was a little confused at first because the intro sounds like a very slowed down intro to Prodigy’s “Charlie”! Up next is “Mellotron”, again another moody sounding house track which uses its synths and beats to great effect.

The album then begins to wind down again with “Southern Sulphuric”, a perfect soundtrack to the day after the night before. Electro then resurfaces in the form of “Confusion”, and then the album is completed by the ethereal sounds of “Notes for Maichau”.

As I said at the start of the review, this album was a bit of a shock to me. I was sure I’d enjoy it, but I wasn’t expecting it to affect me as much as it has. It has been a long time since I have listened to an album from beginning to end and have it leave me absolutely slack jawed. It’s rare that an album can contain elements of break beat, techno, house, tech house and drum and bass yet be so beautifully free flowing, devoid of any awkward moments- however this is such an album.

No need to survey me in December – I do believe I’ve found the album of the year.