It would have been horribly cruel if We’ll Be the Moon had fallen short of expectations, not to mention extremely ironic. With its title, and the album’s cosmic sound, the Oxford group, point to an otherworldly sort of atmosphere being created within, and they seem to be convinced that not even the sky is the limit. It helps, then, that the long-awaited debut is absolutely out of this world. Three of its songs have already been released as singles, but such is the confidence displayed by Fixers on the album that they are able to treat their older material almost as an afterthought; the real meat of their sublime first outing lies in the new songs that make up the bulk of the tracklisting.

At the same time, the quintet choose to open their account with a trio of older, albeit updated, songs: the pulsating opener Majesties Ranch and the anthemic Floating Up have both been knocking about for a while, but in album context they sound completely fresh and new. Iron Deer Dream, meanwhile, was the album’s lead single, and, three songs in, it is the point at which We’ll Be the Moon hits its stride, sounding like Fixers are ready to pick up the uplifting psych-pop torch from Animal Collective now that the latter have moved on to other things. Indeed, it sounds like it could have slotted in on Merriweather Post Pavilion without any trouble.

The pacing of the album is important, too – while the band sound at their best when blasting out euphoric, danceable songs like Crystals and World of Beauty, they know when to slow things down, ensuring that the dizzying heights to which they elevate the listeners don’t become vertiginous. The (slightly) more reserved Alexandra takes things down a notch or two after the opening three-song run, but its twinkling, infectious melody (which has a touch of Yeasayer about it) shows that Fixers can still maintain their sense of fun even when they’re keeping themselves in check.

The emphasis is definitely on mood-lifting pop and swoon-worthy melodies, but the album is also full of stunning harmonies, the sort that ensure that those Beach Boys comparisons are justified. The one song on which the band’s voices are fully able to soar is on the acoustic album closer Good Night, which is remarkably different to everything that’s come before, but manages not to stick out like a sore thumb. When it moves into its completely unexpected yet life-affirming coda and brings the album to a close, one can’t help but wonder whether the more restrained path is the one for Fixers to go down in future. It displays a side to them not many will have known existed.

We’ll Be the Moon is set to light up the next few months; it is the ideal accompaniment to blue skies and sunshine, and will undoubtedly go down a storm on the festival circuit. Much more than this, it is undoubtedly one of the best British debut albums of 2012. To borrow the title of the dazzling penultimate track, and next single, the band are in a Really Great World right now. It may have been a while in the making, but it’s been more than worth the agonising wait. Fixers are ready to aim for the stars.

We’ll Be the Moon is out soon on Mercury Records.

Here’s the whole album stream:

Or some favourites:

Floating Up:

Crystals:

Iron Deer Dream:

Majesties Ranch: