Of all the singers known to Crotchety Man, Leonard Cohen has to be the one whose songs speak loudest. But there’s more than one way for musicians to get a message across. In their recent album, Speaking in Song, Musictellers dispense with words altogether.

The band is a five-piece: Phil Keaggy (acoustic and electric finger-style guitar), Tony Gerber (keyboards, synthesisers and flute), Shannon Hayden (acoustic and electric cello), Byron House (acoustic and electric bass), Kyle Jones (drums and percussion).

At first sight, these guys sit far from Crotchety Land. Keaggy is a born-again Christian steeped in the Nashville sound, which is positively off-putting. Gerber writes ambient electronic tunes that he describes as ‘spacerock’. That doesn’t sound too promising, either. Hayden, on the other hand, does pique my interest. She brings one of my favourite instruments, the cello, to the world of contemporary art-rock music and brings it right up to date with electronic effects.

If we inquire a little further, we find that Keaggy rubbed shoulders with Joe Walsh and Rick Derringer in the ’70s, which goes some way to redeeming him in these sometimes blinkered eyes. House was inspired to play bass after listening to Jaco Pastorius, and studied for a while with Ron Carter. More recently, he has joined Phil Keaggy as a member of Cosmic Cathedral, alongside Neal Morse and Chester Thompson. If you can tell a musician by the company he keeps, that man must be good.

In the end, though, the proof of the sonic pudding is in the listening. And Musictellers have produced a delicious slice of neoclassical music. Sublime tones and textures draw us gently into the twilight, and hold us there, spellbound. The eight tracks are largely improvised, but always have something to say. Once or twice, the flow hesitates briefly before picking up again. But these are barely perceptible blemishes in an almost perfect antidote to the household chores. Anyone care to join me for a bout of extreme ironing and another spin of Speaking in Song?