German baritone saxophonist Kira Linn was the first artist selected for Whirlwind Recordings’ ‘Step Forward, Reach Back’ programme in support of emerging female jazz talent across the label. Illusion is exactly the sort of album such a programme should support: Linn's third with her sextet (the Linntett) which drops straight into a world of gentle experimentation, a journey of an artist seeing what clicks.

Eclecticism is the order of the day for Linn, who lists Billie Eilish, Arlo Parks and Laura Mvula among her chief songwriting influences in this wide-angled journey through electronic pop, improvisation, retro-synths and wide-open ambient textures. She's clearly in search of new ground: There's ‘That Thing’, Linn's first appearance as a vocalist on record, the ultra-minimal out washes of ‘Illusion’, or the motivational poetry of ‘Zoom I’. ‘Numb_ers’ and ‘Dumb_ness’ are two related songs, played forwards and in reverse. All the ideas don't quite hang together as an album, but it's refreshing to hear an artist so open to trying things out.