HERE come two of the most welcome returns of the year, both of them Scottish and each of them as brilliant as their past best.

Glaswegian veterans Teenage Fanclub have been silent since Man-Made five years ago, and by comparison with that stripped-back record, Shadows feels heaven sent.

It is not that the triple-headed wonder of Gerard Love, Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley has done anything particularly new here, just that this gilded band have made some vintage West Coast rock that chimes with their later summers and early autumn years.

Baby Lee, Shock And Awe, Live With The Seasons, the beauties roll on, the harmonies exquisite, the melancholia and evening sunshine in equal measure.

Shadows might be a better title for the re-awakening of the Beta Band’s Steve Mason, who has finally emerged from the undergrowth of arty side projects King Biscuit Time and Black Affair, and despairing bouts of depression, to reclaim his own name and his acoustic guitar.

Pairing up with electro-pop producer Richard X has framed his heartbreaking voice perfectly, and even the flame of hope burns through these beautiful, damaged, healing songs.

* Teenage Fanclub play Leeds Cockpit on June 4.