Mournful and bittersweet to begin with on ‘Gentle Light,’ the very brief ‘Lost in the Forest’ is, surprise, surprise, avant garde while ‘Joker’ is more in your face.
London trumpeter Dylan Jones debuts here on fellow trumpeter Mark Kavuma’s Banger Factory Records.
An original member of Ezra Collective Jones was on Chapter Seven and You Can’t Steal My Joy.
Statue finds him with Hamish Nockles-Moore on bass, Harry Ling, drums, Jay Verma on piano and Daniel Kemshall on guitar.
Kemshall makes his presence felt most on ‘Gentle Light’ which I think is the best track.
It’s a mixed bag though overall that flits around stylistically and not everything detonates as it should to really deliver the fireworks.
But ‘Young Future’ blows up suitably enough with its busy arpegiatting and shifting mood and has more of a jazz-rock feel which at its core is probably Jones’ best territory to roam in.
The arrangement of ‘Plastic Petals’ I don’t think quite works, it tries to cram too much in.
The big track, the title track which is heralded by a short intro in which a strings intro figures, is kept to the end. It has a kind of Alfa Mist vibe with a piano pedal note acting as anchor and a skittering broken beats type of approach emanating from the drums.
As for my tuppence ha’penny worth of an opinion: There are too many originals overall. At least one standard – something written since the 1990s to suit his contemporary sounding preference rather than anything more antedeluvian from further back – to contextualise them would have helped me love the record a smidge more. But it’s good it’s out today and, dear reader, worth an exploratory spin.
