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I really didn’t know what to expect from this: any act releasing two albums in two years is pushing it, and given that last year’s Archipelago was such a ruddy good record, I was setting myself up for a fall. How utterly sodding wrong of me that was.

Just over a minute into Erosion, when the bassline drops, you know you’re in for something a bit different. Big, fat bass that massages your shoulders and straightens your clothing before ushering you merrily on your way. The melodies here suggest a huge leap forwards from even Archipelago – there’s a misty-eyed nostalgia about the breakdown, and the sheer fluidity with which it unfolds and develops sounds… it sounds important. Significant. This isn’t just something musically fresh, it’s something deeper. Erosion is one of the best dance music tracks ever recorded, and it’s also the only good record to feature Irina Mikhailova’s vocals.

Elsewhere, things are still pretty good. Isolation has a moodier scando vibe about it, reminding me of Vibrasphere’s earlier stuff, with that sort of paranoid desolation contrasted with optimistic melodies.  Vertical is more what I expected from this album; a continuation of Archipelago that’s seriously bloody good: dreamy prog mixed with just the right amount of housey touches equals capture of a classic moment.

In Control brings in electro tinges and pitches itself halfway between a sweaty indoor club and a deliriously happy outdoor Sunday Lunchtime dancefloor. Once again there’s something about the way this is executed – the lushness of it just permeates you completely: you don’t really have time to analyse quite what’s going on, and quite how clever it is, because it’s affecting you musically on such a significant level.

Things peak again with Wasteland. Once more the electro and house touches are brought in, and once more Vibrasphere do something different with them. The breakdown is delicious – the level of detail in the sounds is staggering, the drop is perfect and the way it picks up its energy has you standing there, hand on heart, saying: these men are here to save acid house.

All of which is pretty fucking staggering, but the story’s only half told. Four chillout tracks are also, coincidentally, some of the best music anyone has ever heard. Forever Imaginary is reggae-tinged tearfulness with the perfect inclusion of an acidline; and Ensueno is pure Balearic immersion; Mountain Lake is orchestral rainforest dub.

Exploring The Tributaries is, make no mistake, an excellent album, significant on more than one level. Musically, their evolution into this confident, suave outfit is delightful and hearing this music makes their previous work make more sense in a new context. Secondly, the way they have brought in elements of house and electro and – significantly – made something different makes this album stand out from the competitors.

The real trick here is that while other producers are craftsmen, who make records that make a dancefloor rock, Vibrasphere are artists. There is a definite sense that they have experienced something, drawn it down from somewhere unknowable, captured it, and turned it into music. Very, very special music.