Emboldened by a sold-out tour and a surge of interest in the States after the release of the documentary Revenge of The Mekons, Mekons retreated to the fringes of Joshua Tree National Park and popular culture to record their new album Deserted.

The long-running, genre-hopping, impossible-to-kill British folk-punk collective summoned the forces of magic, fear and superstition for an album of shifting sand Sturm und Drang. It is at once a distorted howl into the emptiness of space as well as a quiet submission to the shimmering allure of a mirage. The heat and endless horizon can lead to madness or clarity, and while there is relief when the sun goes down you know the deep chill is not far off.