Each time they take the stage, Madrid-bred rock band Hinds create a kind of wild magic, a feel-good free-for-all often complete with synchronized dancing and giddy crowd-surfing from the members themselves. While the band’s first two albums channeled the euphoric energy of their live show in their gorgeously punchy take on garage-rock, their latest full-length adds entirely new texture to their sound. Produced by Jenn Decilveo (The Wombats, Ben Platt and Anne-Marie), The Prettiest Curse finds the band letting their imaginations run more freely than ever, even as they share some of their most emotionally heavy material to date.

In bringing The Prettiest Curse to life, Hinds purposely chased their most outrageous impulses, sometimes deliberately messing with audience expectations (“When people hear this record I want them to freak out and just go, ‘What?’” says Martin). Not only a major creative leap for the band, the album also marks a whole new level of confidence in their artistry. “If baby Hinds could hear this record, they wouldn’t believe it—it’s so far from where we started,” says Perrote. “It’s the first time we truly enjoyed the process and didn’t ever feel we had something to prove. I’m so proud that we just let ourselves have fun, and never held back from doing what we wanted.”