UK super trio Malija – saxophonist Mark Lockheart, pianist Liam Noble, and bassist Jasper Hoiby – follow their excellent 2015 debut with another round of absorbing, fresh-sounding, conversational music. Their open-textured, acoustic sound stretches the improvisational envelope in multiple directions, touching on European folk traditions, classical chamber music, and Latin flavours like tango, as well as various streams of contemporary creative music.

All three contribute equally to the writing, and the tunes are approachably melodic, but those are just the subjects of the conversations. It’s when these three friends open the discussion to the floor – the frank exchange of views, the back and forth of ideas, and the sense that anything might happen – that Malija show their worth.

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