30 January 2012
Jazz Journal
Fred Grand

There's a pleasing causticity to the title of this, the fourth release by the Neil Cowley Trio. In a media age where even the most banal of trivia comes garlanded in hyperbole, the NCT are far from prosaic. They built a solid reputation based on their dynamic live performances, their post-EST music leaning heavily on rock aesthetics and at times overwhelming listeners with its bounding energy, high drama, puckish wit, and catchy melodic hooks.
This album, and extended suite with string ensemble, marks something of a grand departure for the trio. It opens with a low-key tone poem in which the leader's reflective piano is sensitively backed by the ambient guitar of Brian Eno collaborator Leo Abrahams and a lone cello. It's something of a calm before the storm, as a ringing two-note ostinato ushers a smooth transition to the robot-funk of ‘Rooster Was A Witness'. It's immediately obvious that the strings not only add colour but also accentuate the music's inherent drama. The motoric pulse and mile electronic patina of ‘Fable' is a clear nod to E.S.T, whilst the elegance of ‘Skies Are Rare' and ‘Slims' offer up some of the most satisfying writing. Despite Cowley's interest in orchestration being given free rein, NCT regulars will be pleased to hear that the group's almost brand- like identity isn't sacrificed at the altar of grandiosity, and both the anthem-like title-track and grooving ‘Hope Machine' see the trio at their ecstatic best.
I don't think it would be going too far to say that along with the Anglo- Scandinavian Phronesis the NCT are surely one of the UK acts most likely to make an impression on the international stage. Call this a "concept" album if you wish, but to an even greater extent than last year's Radio Silence (naim, 2010) this ambitious work justifies every bit of the hype.