“To believe… disable your internet connection now,” blinked the message on Cinematic Orchestra’s official site on 15th January against a stark white background. If you did what they said – and switched off your Wi-Fi connection – you were automatically taken to a new page (with a black background) giving details of where to buy a limited-edition 12-inch single of ‘A Caged Bird’ / ‘Imitations Of Life’ (which features Roots Manuva, a fellow signing to Ninja Tune).

So what exactly was going on? A nice gimmick that allows you to toggle between online and offline modes on your computer or device? A political comment on the always-on culture that defines entire generations now? A satirical in-joke about having to, literally, go offline to get details of real-world shops which are the only places you can buy the band’s new music on a physical format? (The tracks are also available on Boomkat and Bleep, but physical sales are the main thrust.)

It is probably all of these things and more. But it was the simplicity of what was happening here that really worked. Obviously the second page (the “offline” one with the black background) was already loaded when you got to the public landing page and it just reverted to that when the internet connection was cut. But, as a simple trick, it was an effective one.

The band have not put out a new studio album since 2007’s ‘Ma Fluer’. There have been live albums, soundtracks, compilations, solo releases and sporadic track releases, but this all suggested a full return was imminent. That was the state of play as of 15th January and at that stage Ninja Tune itself is was keeping tight-lipped about what the act were planning; but the next day the site reverted to normal (while keeping the black background from the offline version) to reveal a new album, To Believe, was set for release on 15th March with a tour timed to coincide.

There were links to buy the album (or pre-save it) from all the major outlets and specialist digital ones such as Juno and Bandcamp as well as key independent retailers like Phonica and Norman Records. This was an encouragingly long list that treated small physical retailers on an equal footing with the heavy hitters of digital. More of this sort of thing, please.