The top end is fairly open, but at the bottom it’s a little heavy. Pressed at Precision (GZ’s Canadian associates), the copy your columnist has been playing frequently is pretty quiet and has a solid soundstage. The a cappella wonder of ‘Let Breath Be The Sun’ highlights the beguiling use of voices on this unique record. Opener ‘Conspiring With Nature’ can let light in on the bleakest of days and a track named after the band shimmers with frenetic percussion. The casual swing of the instrumental title track takes hold over multiple listens, with some remarkable guitar work slowly rising to the top. As well as so much nagging melody, there are many wonderful layers of harmony on this project helmed by bandleader Maximilian Turnbull. The sleeve design, typography and presentation of the lyrics in faintly fuzzy vintage fashion on the back are all immediately appealing and, if you need a quick sell, this is exactly the sort of bright, soulful vocal jazz that you could imagine on Gilles Peterson’s superlative 6Music show. Such was the case with Badge Époque Ensemble’s remarkable ‘Clouds Of Joy’. Occasionally, a record will arrive for review in this column and have me hooked within a minute of the stylus finding the groove. The magic of Alabaster DePlume’s guest spot is, thankfully, undimmed. This appears to be the same on the digital master, however. ‘Fractals’ is a good demonstration of the layers at play, with intricate details deployed, but a little congested in the middle of the presentation. Pressed at Pallas, it played with barely any surface noise and offered an engaging if not truly vivid soundstage. It will require a finely tuned setup, as I experienced some slight vocal distortion with the tracking weight only slightly out and brighter systems will likely fare better with the mix. This makes it quite a tricky one to cut to vinyl, but Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound has taken on the challenge.

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