I know how it goes. You're straight out of music college with a couple of awards under your belt. It's your first album. You want to nail it, to make a statement, to give it your all. But ambition can be a dangerous thing, and so it is with No Excuses, the debut release from Royal Academy of Music grad and BBC Young Musician Jazz Award finalist Tom Ridout. The playing on the album is never less than impressive, though you get the sense that everyone is trying to cram in as many of their flashiest licks as possible. There's some nice writing too, and the slicing, modernist string arrangements are a particular highlight. On the whole though, there's too much going on. ‘Is & It’ opens with a brass chorale and winds up as overwritten math jazz. ‘What It Would’ is all silky strings and cheesy tenor sax. ‘Scarborough Fair’ has folk-rock leanings. ‘No’ is hyperactive post bop. It feels more like an audio brainstorm than an album and it becomes quite disorienting. There's no doubting Ridout's talent. He just needs to relax a bit, to edit, to find his voice. And to consider whether effects-driven jazz recorder is ever a good idea.