This Welsh group is new to me but it seems they’ve been going since 2019 when they formed as what Americans call a “jam band.” The sextet are named after their home town of Church Village, ten miles from Cardiff, calling themselves Church Village Collective – CVC for short.

Comprising lead vocalist Francesco Orsi, bassist Ben Thorne, drummer Tom Fry, keyboardist Daniel Jones and guitarists David Bassey and Elliot Bradfield, they issued their debut EP, Real to Reel, in 2022.

I’ve only heard this, their new single – Sophie – and was immediately drawn to its melancholy air of psych-tinged Americana and blissful vocal harmonies.

It’s a retro sound, recalling all sorts of music from yesteryear as well as more recent Americana artists like Phosphorescent, Jonathan Wilson and Wilco, but those are influences I enjoy.

And this song is undeniably catchy, with a guitar solo that reminds me of something Wilson might have played before he went all proggy.

I rather like the way it ends with a repeated chorus about the keyboard player, Daniel, being in love with the titular Sophie – his real-life music-loving girlfriend.

Apparently too shy to sing in front of the band, that’s her voice at the start of the song, telling the band they’re embarrassing her: “Why are you making me do it? I don’t want to do it!”

I haven’t heard CVC’s debut album Get Real yet but I intend to: they cite among its influences a diverse collection of artists including Snoop Dogg, Crosby Stills & Nash, Red Hot Chili Peppers and, inevitably, Super Furry Animals.

It includes their last single, Good Morning Vietnam, and comes with an EP of covers recorded for Rough Trade under their “suited and booted alter ego” of The Rag Tag Wedding Band.

They are undeniably a bunch of hippies and in times past I would have cringed at their mantra of: “Peace and love and good times, stay real, stay true and that’s it.” Perhaps I have mellowed with age.