Things have shifted recently for those stalwarts of the UK nu-jazz scene Mammal Hands. Since their debut album ‘Animalia’ turned heads in 2014 ,the Norwich based trio, brothers Nick and Jordan Smart on sax and piano respectively plus drumming buddy Jesse Barrett, forged a reputation for genre blurring, expansively imaginative music. Jazz, post rock, folk, electronica and neo classical influences were all held close by Mammal Hands and nurtured into their own singular sonic proposition. Now five albums along the road comes ‘Circadia’, their first for ACT after a decade with Manchester’s Gondwana Records and a signal that the co-ordinates have changed for the band. Added to that development, Jesse Barrett has also moved on, leaving the drum stool vacant for Go Go Penguin’s Rob Turner. So how does the new Mammal Hands shape up?
From the opening bars of Windows to your world, the first track, you are immediately aware that this is definitely a Mammal Hands album. The minimal piano pattern of Phillip Glass clarity, the understated but graphic sax lines, the fluttering breakbeat groove are part of the band’s DNA. Similarly the rich melodic songfulness of their music remains at the forefront. It’s a sunrise type of tune which dawns then increases in intensity. That moment of crescendo takes your breath away, a ripple effect which swells into a full-scale torrent of cymbal crashes, drum acrobatics, propulsive piano and high-pressure sax.
Such anthemic moments recur throughout ‘Circadia’ but that doesn’t reduce their thrill. On the hopeful, heartfelt Forgotten Friend the build-then-calm brings an emotive clout while on the increasingly urgent Alia’s Abandon it adds tension to the sadness. Here Nick Smart and Rob Turner’s piano/drum interchange becomes a tightening bundle of muscular micro-beats and mini-rhythms which powers the tune to its resolution. During such passages Mammal Hands seem to sound more explosive than on previous recordings, flying free, sometimes straining to keep control but relishing the moment. There’s that level of improvisational risk-taking going on throughout this album which brings to mind Szun Waves or early Portico Quartet when they hit the boosters.
The intuitive cohesion between the three players, which gives ‘Circadia’ such a strong foundation, can often be hard for a band to secure when there’s a change of long-standing membership. Crucially the new trio toured together before embarking on this studio project which gave them time to bond not just through playing but also the hours of inevitable van banter around music. As Nick has said for him and Jordan the process has been both one of looking back and moving on: “We had to rediscover the soul of our music and Rob has transformed it into something that continues our legacy as well as pushes it forward.”
Of course, Mammal Hands music thrives on much more than dynamism and ‘Circadia’ highlights the whole range of their many strengths. Helios conjures a more pastoral soundscape, letting the swaying tune have air as the sax and piano duet closely. Equally atmospheric and shaded with delicate electronics, Fallow Tide highlights their flatland connections through Frahm-like minimalism and ambience. Most stunning of these more subdued tunes is A Thread In The Dark. Here Nick Smart’s beautifully considered piano hugs onto his brother Jordan’s fine-woven sax melody to deliver a ballad which floats with the grace of the finest Nordic Jazz.
Whether through fate or circumstance, the resonance of Mammal Hands’ move to ACT for the release of this album has not been lost on the band. Long standing admirers of the label’s much missed giants EST, the fluid delivery and epic scale of that legendary power trio’s music echoes through the pulsating thrust of ‘Circadia’. Significantly, as on their last collection ‘Gift From The Trees’, the band have used Ben Capp, their live sound engineer, to record the new tunes. This injects an immediacy and additional sonic lift to the tracks as well as a real ‘in-the-room’ feel to the listening experience.
You can’t help getting swirled along by Paper Boats as the perky funkiness gradually turns more precarious amongst the insistent piano urges and sax yearns. Four Flowers also sits you on the edge of your seat with Rob Turner’s cascading drum fills ramping things up but perhaps closing cut Submerge stands out as a destination. Stetson-like klaxon calls from the sax, tumbling piano arpeggios, the weighty plunge of a bass-line and the final thrashing, desperate climax showcase Mammal Hands at their cinematic best.
So does ‘Circadia’ sound like a refresh, a rethink or a replay for this much-loved band? Well, it’s none of these. Mammal Hands have grasped their changes and used them to shape a fine album which emphatically speaks for itself.
Get your copy of ‘Circadia‘ by Mammal Hands from your local record store or direct from ACT Music HERE
