Atom-smashing scientists are hoping for a hit of a different kind this Christmas.

A group of 20 physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator, have recorded and released an album, titled Resonance.

They have also set up their own music label, Neutralino Records, named after a hypothetical sub-atomic particle.

All belong to the Atlas team at the LHC, which is probing the origins of matter and fundamental forces of nature.

Their musical output covers two CDs and a DVD, and ranges from classical piano pieces to original pop songs.

The LHC, housed in a 27-kilometreunderground tunnel near Geneva, aims to collide particles together at energies not seen since the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

More than 10,000 scientists and engineers are involved in the LHC project.