soft machine

Hidden Details dyad

Jazz vets return. Approach, but with caution.

With their first new album in 37 years, one of Britain’s great, pioneering jazzrock groups have delivered a diverse record that sounds fresh and modern while also bridging to their early-70s heyday.

Most accessible to rock ears will be the heavyweight title track and the riff-based One Glove and Out Bloody Rageous (Part 1). The latter – one of a handful that showcase John Etheridge’s astonishing guitar playing – is a lively new version of a highlight of the Soft’s classic 1970 album Third, and links today’s quartet (as does the melodic The Man Who Waved At Trains) with their most lauded period. On the other hand, Life On Bridges and part of the not conventionally tuneful Gound Lift might be a difficult listen for the un-jazzed ear.