Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then I’ll begin. Many years ago, way back in the last years of the 1980s, in fact, there was a musical troupe called the Charlatans. They were the great hopes of indie pop, and released many fine records which sold in their millions, and later in their dozens.

The good news for all diehard indie kids is that the Charlatans have never really gone away, and their new album You Cross My Path will be released in March – first of all as a completely free download from the XFM website, and then in shops as a CD (the old traditionalists!).

After the successful multi-format release of Radiohead’s In Rainbows (not to mention Sir Cliff’s digital foray), it looks like a smart move, but there’s only one way to find out – download the album…

(Image: from zoonabar’s flickr stream)