First, you are drawn by the book. It could be an Enid Blyton or Nancy Drew, or classics such as Treasure Island, Heidi or Charlotte Bronte’s Villette. Obviously old - beat up, time-sooted and lightly-stained. All part of their charm.

It’s the bolt-and-nut, punched right through the centre of the book (stabbed disrespectfully IN the heart) that gets you. For a book lover like me, this is a post-punk art statement that has gotta hurt. What’s a randomly used, second/third/fourth-hand vintage children’s book that harks back to the childhood (circa 1984) doing in a CD store?

Singaporean band, Concave Scream’s latest CD comes encased and shrink-wrapped in a used book. What could be more fitting for a title: Soundtrack for a Book.

I am enamoured by the handmade feel of the CD packaging - decidedly eco-minded and one-of-a-kind. You’re almost guaranteed that you won’t own the same copy as the next Joe Smo (no two bookpages from different stocks could age the same), and when you are done with the CD, you can finish the book - provided you’re able to read through the hole.

I’ll confess that I’m not too familiar with Concave Scream’s oeuvre of work, but the 43-minute 9-track instrumental album sometimes sound like the Cocteau Twins, minus Liz Fraser’s ethereal vocals, which is the kind of “jangly” dreamy instrumental stuff that I was totally into, circa 1994.

View all the titles available at the Concave Scream site here, and don’t turn down the volume. Sample the music - it should be all about the Music, shouldn’t it?

The CD-Book is available at the Esplanade store, Gramaphone and Asylum. But we would much rather you pick it up at Books Actually, our smashing neighbours downstairs. Better yet still, climb the stairs after to say ‘hi’ and show us your edition. We’d love to see ya.

Concave Scream will  launch the album with a 60-minute gig on Sept 18 at the Esplanade. Tickets go on sale from Aug 6.

You bet I’ll be there with my copy of Villette.