Winter is the wrong season to fully appreciate an album like The Neon Groove. This Kiwi group make silky smooth, summery soul and funk. Think of Jamiroquai with a dash of the melodic elements of Nesian Mystik and you won’t be far off.

Most of the songs here are earworms, and when Lt Funk hit their stride (the first single, “Frequency”) they are capable of writing pop hooks as good as anything on the radio today. The lyrics in general are slightly inconsequential, and the band never try for anything resembling the soul of a song like “Hope” by Fat Freddy’s Drop (a band in a comparable genre), but then that’s not really what this album is about.

The Neon Groove is not an album to put on when you want something challenging, it’s an album to put on when you want a soundtrack to good times. In that regard, it actually reminds me most of all of that old Kiwi group The Kumquats. It’s bright, catchy and supremely likeable. Get it for your next BBQ.

Four stars out of five