"Who's that?"

"The Juliana Hatfield Three, 21 years after their first album."

"Sounds like Sheryl Crow."

So went the conversation with my mate Simon last night as this record received its first listen. Track five, 'I'm Shy', prompted the Crow comparison and there's a reasonable bit of truth in it, vocally and tempo-wise as it's one of the slower songs on Whatever, My Love. For the most part though this work is stylistically firmly rooted in the '90s sound that Hatfield and the likes of Superchunk, Evan Dando and The Dandy Warhols made their names with post-Nirvana.

Which isn't to say that it sounds dated at all. That initial listen was very much like rediscovering a release you'd forgotten about at the time due to more forceful works getting in the way, much like the recent arrival of Ex-Hex on the scene supplied a nano-second of doubt that they weren't some overlooked '70s act finally getting deserved attention.

Hatfield herself hasn't been in stasis since the band's debut Become What You Are, releasing a number of solo albums the most recent of which, Wild Animals, came out in 2013.

Whatever, My Love takes on the issues of being stifled in a relationship ('Invisible'), has the flipside of 'My Drug Buddy' in 'Ordinary Guy', gets quite sexy ('I'm Shy') and deals with bad wardrobe decisions ('Blame It On The Stylist').

Whilst this isn't a release I'd personally have seen as one of the most anticipated of 2015 it's a seamless return for the trio and all the more comforting for that. 

Whatever, My Love is available from Amazon and iTunes.

Going from strength to strength the Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia not only gains a fourth performance space in 2015 but will be headlined by none other than Spiritualized. 

Joining the Camp, Furnace & Blade Factory stages is the District in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle (which sounds like it might involve a bit more walking for those keen to see as many performances as possible). 

As well as the aforementioned god-like headlining act festival goers can expect to see Death And Vanilla, Evil Blizzard, Fumaca Preta, Giant Swan, Hey Colossus, K-X-P, Lucern Raze, Magic Castles, Menace Beach, R. Seilog, Roy And the Devil's Motorcycle, The Callas, The Megaphonic Thrift, The Octopus Project, Virginia Wing, Vision Fortune and Zun Zun Egui. More acts are obviously to be announced in the coming months.

For ticket details (£50) and other information view the event's website here.