Vadim – survivor of ocular melanoma and innumerable other personal crises over the past year – is a bit of a trouper. So we get why the track ‘Soldier’ is the jump-off here. But compared to the rest of the LP, ‘Soldier’ is a bit of a letdown. It’s a false dawn of a track, as the LP only really gets going on around track five.

What’s here is also more playful, fun and experimental than much of his earlier work.

And although the album really is a bit too long and occasionally too introspective for its own good, Vadim can still make a banger. We’ve been playing the closing jam ‘Hidden Treasure’ virtually non-stop since we heard it here at Tourdates Towers.

Despite the hiccups, Imaginashun is a defiant fuck-you to his doubters and a resounding battle cry for anyone going through trauma. Vadim wins again.

Nice guy, too. See the interview on this page.

4 out of 5

Rob Boffard