Credit: Found On Internet

There has been something missing from this stifling summer – a voice sultry enough to express just how intoxicated, frustrated, blissed and dirty this heat is really making us feel.

Thank goodness then for the return of self-styled spaced-out pop maestro Luke Steele and his band The Sleepy Jackson.

The Australians released their outstanding debut album “Lovers,” in 2003 and after two years in the making, its successor “Personality” was finally completed on New Year’s Eve and is unleashed in the UK on 24 July.

Steele and drummer Malcolm Clark, who have a naughty habit of sacking their band-mates, have lined up a new cast for the new beginning.

And at first listen, “Personality” does seem to be swaying in a very different direction to the schizophrenic, brooding alt-pop of “Lovers.”

Whereas “Lovers” closed with the bleak sound of pouring rain, “Personality” shimmers into life with a sprinkling of string and bell effects (the sort of sound Disney use when something magical happens.)

Warm melodies and plumes of vocal harmonies suggest this is a much more contented piece of work from The Sleepy Jackson.

But fans of “Lovers” can stop biting their nails because “Personality”, although less immediate, is infused with all the hallmarks of the Sleepy sound.

The melancholic lyrics of hell-bent heartbreak are still intact (though my favourite is the bizarre “A pirate laughed at me in LA.”) The layered Beach Boy-esque vocals ally with honed production techniques borrowed from the Spector school to create soaring soundscapes.

Steele’s ability to transform his voice from grumbling bass to angelic falsetto is at its glorious best in Sixties homage “Higher Than Hell.” More oohs and aahs pulsate through the ear-pleasing single “God Lead Your Soul,” which even manages to fit in a brass section and windswept middle eight.

“Devil Was In My Yard” bears a passing resemblance to David Bowie’s “China Girl” but is another cracking tune whose hypnotic blurred melody remains glued to the subconscious.

Steele’s chameleon tendencies saw the Sleepys lurch from pop, acid-country and indie gloom on “Lovers” and, despite the prominence of lilting pop melodies on “Personality”, there is still room for a smattering of disco, dirty dance, Americana and power pop – phew.