I must admit, I was a bit of a late comer to Athlete. My first encounter with that incredible debut – Vehicles & Animals – was four years ago, after I’d already heard Tourist the phenomenally high-selling single Wires. So it’s safe to say the discovery that they hadn’t always been a group of whiny youngsters was a bit of a shock. Vehicles & Animals shaped that summer and provided a perfect soundtrack to England’s last Ashes victory and glorious afternoons sipping Fosters in front of a television.

Fast forward four years and not much has changed. In that time England have lost an Ashes, and Athlete lost their way with the third album Beyond The Neighbourhood. Instead of reaching back and rekindling their fresh-faced introduction they instead chose to aim for something so big they couldn’t quite get a hold on it.

With Black Swan, Athlete’s fourth studio album and first on new label Fiction following a lengthy parting with EMI, the initial signs are promising. Superhuman Touch, the first single, is an up-tempo introduction showcasing the band at their most ambitious, and the early promise bleeds over into The Getaway and the powerful pre-chorus screams of “who’s gonna fly your plane?”. It’s all very exciting, however by the time tracks three and four set in we’re ambling along in second gear with no real signs of picking up speed.

It’s very much the band’s forte – half-pace tracks about love that bore rather than inspire – and it isn’t until the midway point and the beautifully stripped back Love Come Rescue that they begin to sound sincere. It’s a glorious reminder of what Athlete were originally known for, and harks back to the title track from that incredible debut album. By the time the three minutes are up though, we’re back into the same old repetitive nonsense – and thus it continues until the end of the album.

That’s it, really. There isn’t a great deal to be said about Athlete that hasn’t been said elsewhere in much greater detail. One brilliant debut album, acceptable – if depressing – follow-up, two extremely poor efforts. They’ve stayed away from the grandness of Beyond The Neighbourhood, but can’t seem to rid themselves of being completely bland. Of the latter half of the album only The Unknown can stand up proud, and to be successful in this day and age that simply isn’t good enough.