If you happened to be in Times Square recently, you may have peered upwards towards some large screens and witnessed the recently-issued video by one George Lewis Jr, beaming out across the sidewalks. Big deal, you might utter. Well, for Lewis Jr, it probably IS, considering where this man was laying a few years ago - in the middle of the freeway straight after a pretty tasty motorbike accident.

So what's the first thing you do after nearly wrapping your career around a tree? Why, you rub salt into the wounds and get straight back on the saddle (after meticulous surgery), hit the throttle, stand on the fuel tank with a stuffed wolf tied to the back and head off into the sunset, naturally. Hence the imagery in 'Five Seconds', the lead-off single for his second album 'Confess' out today (9th July).

Previously, Lewis' nom-de-plume Twin Shadow's debut album 'Forget' appeared in 2010 to glowing praise from the press and possessed many trinkets of synth-triggered pop that had elements of Prince and A Flock of Seagulls about it. But if 'Forget' was his '1999', then 'Confess' is his 'Purple Rain'. With arch references to big-hair rock like Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Go West in places, Lewis tempers his potential homage de fromage with strong hints of Prince (again), George Clinton and just about every '80s synth-pop act worth their song-writing salt (Talk Talk, Paul Haig, Tears For Fears, Howard Jones, you get the picture). Sounds bad? Nope, sounds pretty good actually and rather absorbing.

You'll get a chance to see just why Twin Shadow is grabbing plaudits when he plays two autumn shows in Manchester on 31st October, followed by Brixton on 1st November. Tickets for the Sound Control show will go on sale from 9am on Wednesday 11th July, while the London show (at Electric in Brixton) hits the servers at 9am on Friday 13th July. Could be a sell-out.