Janisch enjoys considerable kudos as the founder and head of the dynamic independent record label Whirlwind Recordings, but that should not overshadow his skill as a leader, composer and soloist. This new album is a worthy follow-up to 2015's Paradigm Shift, and while it tackles similar themes of social and political regression, especially in an online world, the writing and arranging have gone up a notch. Janisch has long been a gifted player whose command of electric and acoustic bass has seen him work in a wide variety of settings, but this new songbook draws a coherent line through groove, swing and avant-garde sensibilities without sounding stilted. All the virtuosity of a formidable transatlantic horn and rhythm section comprising Jason Palmer, Rez Abassi, John O'Gallagher, George Crowley and John Escreet, among others, is well channelled into music that, often in odd meters, maintains a distinct quality of dance. As exemplified on the fine opening track, ‘Another London’, Janisch's band also fashions ear-catching textures by drawing on vocabulary that may have been once decried but could be creeping back into fashion, such as the string-like synthesizer pads of late 1970s/80s fusion. The sound is highly effective when cast against combinations of upright bass, guitar, brass and reeds. There are some fine solos on offer, particularly from Abassi and O'Gallagher, but this is first and foremost an ensemble offering impressively helmed by a bandleader who is in the ascendant.