Perhaps best known for fronting Arizona desert dwellers Giant Sand, Howe Gelb's latest unexpected collaboration with a gospel choir was as much of a surprise to him as anyone.

In 2003, he was invited to perform at the Ottawa Bluesfest and billed to play in a church with singer-songwriter Jim Bryson. Howe was surprised to find their sets sandwiched between the performances from gospel choirs.

"When one of the gospel choirs performed, that's when it all began to make some sense to me," he says. "I was held captive by the sensation, glued to my seat there. I had never heard anything like it, never felt anything like that - and when you get to be my age and something grabs your heart and head like that, you celebrate and bask in it. I was physically moved."

When Howe returned to his hotel room to reflect on the experience, the sky erupted in a storm and he took it as a sign.

"The sound in my head persuaded me to return to the church. I felt I had to make some connection before I left town."

When he arrived back at the church, Howe caught the final performance of the evening by Voices Of Praise, the choir group which would end up performing on Howe's new album 'Sno Angel Like You and will appear with him in Brighton.

Howe approached the director of the church and asked him if it would be possible to record with the choir and not do religious material. "It was a grand experiment to see if we could mesh the sounds of the muck I make with the dizzying effect of the glorious sound the choir makes," he says.

Howe and the choir recorded seven brand new songs, three Giant Sand songs and three Rainer Ptacek numbers. Sharing the bill are The Handsome Family (husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks), who were last seen in Brighton at 2004's Leonard Cohen tribute at The Dome. Over the last nine years, they have established themselves as one of America's finest songwriting partnerships and seen them hailed by Greil Marcus as "the Beatles of the folk world".

The Last Days Of Wonder, the seventh CD, is a collection of love songs which celebrate the miraculous moments of beauty found in everyday life.

Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £6-£15. Call 01273 709709.