Shearwater’s latest album, Rook, is dark, ponderous and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, but nonetheless sounds a little weird coming out in June. Rook sounds tailor-made for grey, drizzly, cold days and black, inhospitable nights, not breezy summer afternoons.

Odd release date aside, Rook is magnificent, thanks in no small part to Johnathan Meiburg’s soaring vocals. Blessed with an awe-inspiring set of pipes, Meiburg shines, alternating effortlessly from a delicate lilt to a powerful shout, while lending his lyrics extra gravity with every towering high and hushed low.

If Rook were nothing more than a showcase for Meiburg’s voice, it would still be a crowning achievement, but the instrumental work is also commendable, following Meiburg’s vocal lead from the ambient to the anthemic. Though never drawing too much attention away from the vocal gymnastics, Shearwater add subtle layers and welcome depth to their otherwise straightforward dark folk songs. Listeners may not notice anything but the vocals on their first few spins, but they’ll discover a rich, if sparse, instrumental framework crucial to Rook’s prevailingly sombre mood.

It’s that mood, though, that will cause the album some problems. Not because there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just not the right time of year. It speaks volumes about Rook’s quality as musical art that its only piece of criticism is its release date.