The stark black-and-white photo on the cover of Nosfell is a naked self-portrait of the singer, crouching sideways to the camera, with one hand on his hip, the other outstretched towards a series of concentric lines. An enigma? A metaphor? Or a summary of the unusual career path Nosfell has followed to date?

Nosfell - aka Labyala Fela Da Jawid Fel - began to make a name for himself on the French underground in 2005 thanks to a series of "concert-happenings" which were actually closer to performance art than music. After teaming up with the cellist Pierre Le Bourgeois, Nosfell went on to create his own weird and wonderful universe incorporating an invented language, Klokobetz (which evoked comparisons to seventies French fusion group Magma) and elements of folk songwriting tradition.

The music maverick's third album, produced by Alain Johannes (the guitarist from Californian rock band Queens Of the Stone Age) mines a pure rock vein. And this time round, Nosfell branches out in a new direction channelling unexpected influences such as Smashing Pumpkins and System of a Down as he embarks upon a rollercoaster ride of emotion powered by human beat box intros and raging guitars.

Accompanied by the half-French, half-Turkish drummer Orkhan Murat, Nosfell brings his phantasmagorical musical triptych to a resounding close. The singer's third album, which finds him in a softer, more reflective mood, includes some of his best tracks to date: namely, Bargain Healers (a Tom Waits-style number featuring Brody Dalle and Josh Homme) and La Romance des Cruels, featuring guest whispering from French indie eighties idol Daniel Darc.

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 Listen to an extract from Bargain Healers

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