Maryam Qudus is primarily known as a producer and engineer, and Inward Eye sounds like the work of someone who knows exactly what the studio can do when you take the guardrails off. Warm, enveloping, optimistic and creative, any instrument is free to make any noise at any time as the album fills with organic synthesisers adding meticulous textures and joyful character.

The opener Do We Exist? is a pop song in 7/8 combining glittering synths with a simple cheery guitar and catchy meandering lyrical thoughts. Internet Fantasy then builds the layers gradually, adding more keyboards until the whole thing escalates into a massive wall of sound that’s heavy in the bass register, but sweet and light in its overall character, feeling friendly even as it overwhelms. Paper Cup has a synth bassline that’s fuzzy and dirty rumbling underneath super catchy melodies, and Telepathic Butterflies could be a Stereolab number with slightly detuned synths keeping a consistent groove underneath the beautiful vocals. It’s really easy to dance to, summery and warm.

The Universe Next Door crashes in with massive overwhelming synthesizers and big drums sounding optimistic and hopeful. Cloud Of Echoes is one of the most beautiful moments on the record with vocals working in a descending round and looping over each other like a nursery rhyme. A Photograph Replaced My Mind is another psychedelic highlight before In The Garden closes the album by holding its groove and letting the synths meander while the bass and drums keep everything anchored, and we can enjoy being in this rich sonic world for one final stretch.

You could call this psychedelia, but it sounds more like the artists of the nineties and noughties who were influenced by the sixties, with production that’s far too rich to be considered raw. When The Flaming Lips moved from being a band to being studio experimentalists, they discovered that synthesisers are capable of a wider frequency range and more textural possibilities than guitars, and Inward Eye operates in that same understanding. The layers of sound would interfere with each other in the hands of someone who didn’t know what they were doing, but Qudus leaves space for everything, balancing an overwhelming cloud of sound with a gentle and soft character throughout.

This is extremely creative pop music that’s groovy, optimistic and inventive. As a vocalist, Qudus calls to mind Melody’s Echo Chamber and Stereolab with a cool quality, using her voice as another instrument in the arrangement rather than the centrepiece above everything else.

Greenway Records has been putting out some top notch raucous rock and roll recently, but not every record needs to express blind rage and emotional intensity. Sometimes it’s just as important to feel warm and comfortable, and that’s exactly what Inward Eye provides.