Listen: Psychologist – “When Particles Collide”

When Iain Woods officially stepped onto the music scene three years ago under his Psychologist moniker, he did so appearing fully formed from the outset: cutting edge, contemporary but mature, wildly confident and brazen but never cocksure or arrogant.

We here at Best Fit were left with tongues wagging at Woods’ 2011 activity – indeed, the title track and accompanying video to debut EP Waves Of OK hit us “like a ten ton of bricks”. Now, as a pack of Pavlovian canines, we’re drooling once again at Woods’ return single, “When Particles Collide”.

Woods reintroduces himself to us via a warm synth swell before switching focus onto a naked, skulking piano line riding incongruently atop a hip-hop drum beat. His vocals slide in a mumble until the chorus, where he and the piano lock into a nearly full-blown soul turn, though exhibit just enough restraint so as not to recklessly yank it completely out of its more muted surroundings.

As on previous Psychologist material, Woods shows us his extraordinary capacity for compounding different genres – an exercise that can easily yield stilted results – into something sincere and human.

Details on Psychologist’s next steps currently are nil, but we’re keeping our eyes peeled for you.