First things first: Let’s revel in the fact that this actually happened. Until its abrupt unveiling last Saturday on the band’s website, “m b v” was widely considered an elaborate inside joke by the group’s fans. My Bloody Valentine’s infamous leader Kevin Shields found himself pegged as the music industry’s most prolific wolf-crier as he made countless promises over the course of two decades while slaving away at the follow-up to the game-changing 1991 shoegaze masterpiece “Loveless.”

My Bloody Valentine don’t waste any time reminding listeners that they are, in fact, the originators of their genre of music. The visceral growl of Shields’ guitar on opener “she found now” references their instant classic “Sometimes” in a fashion that countless dream pop bands have attempted to emulate, with varying success, in the years since “Loveless.” Hauntingly familiar sounds are reexamined throughout the record, as illustrated by the signature swirling fuzz nosedives on “who sees you” and the unmistakable combination of Belinda Butcher’s penetrating whispers and lucidly melodic harmonium on “new you.”

The last third of the album is particularly excellent, blending the unwavering intensity of their first LP “Isn’t Anything” and the cerebral euphoria of “Loveless” faultlessly. The sharp-yet-sweet “in another way” and the throbbing interlude “nothing is” lead into closing track “wonder 2.” That track’s uncanny break-beat explorations, bewildering devolutions and subsequent upheavals operate concurrently as a deft update of the band’s sound. (8/10)