There is nowhere near enough science fiction music in the world. That’s just a fact. I suspect the closest the UK Top 40 will ever get is Katy Perry’s ‘Extra-terrestrial’ which, video aside, maybe doesn’t count. Because the simple fact of the matter is that, for most people, science fiction is too weird. Most people want to hear songs about going to parties and breaking up with your girlfriend, not spaceships and aliens. Thankfully, ‘most people’ isn’t everyone, and there are just enough of us weirdoes out here for musicians of a certain sort to carve out a nerdy little niche. As their name suggests, Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate, are ever so slightly weird. And long may they reign for it. Because these aren’t just songs about generic alien invasions and spaceships doing battle. They’re plucked straight from the pages of science fiction novels.

‘Avrana Kern Is Made Of Ants’ and ‘Gothi and Gethli’ are song titles that will be familiar to anyone who has recently read Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time trilogy, though there are no lyrics in either piece that connect directly to those stories. More of an evoking through melody sort of situation. But if referential lyrics are your thing, there’s ‘Walking to Aldebaran,’ a nearly nine-minute epic with lyrics cribbed straight from Tchaikovsky’s novella of the same name. This frenetic tune captures the loosening sanity of Gary Rendell very well, featuring the novella’s blend of horror and comedy more than you’d think possible.

It’s not all Tchaikovsky though. ‘The Man Who Japed’ shares its name with a Philip K. Dick story, and while I don’t recognise any other literary allusions in the song listing, I’m sure they are there. Even when you don’t get all the references, the music itself is enough to carry the album with ease. Opening track ‘Sold the Peace’ sets the stage nicely for the hour and a bit that follows, while ‘imtiredandeverythinghurts’ is a catchy little ditty that contrasts sharply with the numbingly bleak album-closer ‘Burn the World.’

Favourite authors aside, this isn’t the sort of music I’d normally listen to. It’s instrument-heavy, with minimal lyrics. These aren’t exactly songs you sing along to. But it is great to have playing in the background while you’re playing videogames, or working on a tricky blog post. There’s something about these tunes that just gets fingers hitting keys, and that’s no bad thing.

If you’re after something a little outside the normal, then The Light of Ancient Mistakes is definitely worth a look. Weird, it certainly is. And in this day and age, sometimes weird is exactly what you need to be.