The Pastels, ‘Check My Heart’ [Listen]

Has it really been 13 years since the Pastels last colored our sonic palette? Actually, it hasn't -- the Scottish indie-pop outfit recorded a movie soundtrack ('The Last Great Wilderness') in 2003, a theatre pieces in 2006 and a pair of collaborations with Japan's Tenniscoats in 2009 -- but their most recent regular studio album was indeed a 1998 release: 'Illumination.' That absence comes to an end this year with 'Slow Summits,' and today (April 8), the band was unveiled the album's first single, 'Check My Heart,' which you can stream above.

Despite their modest output over the last decade-plus, the Pastels haven't skipped a beat; 'Check My Heart' is a well-crafted, immediately catchy and properly endearing slab of glorious indie pop in the mold of their classic 'Illumination' album. 'Slow Summits' drops May 27, and the Pastels play their first New York City show since 1997 on June 13 at the Chickfactor 21 Festival in Brooklyn.