For his fourth album on Edition Records, Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola intended "to approach my own monkey mind and greet it kindly" and the opening track - 'Party In The Attic' - certainly evokes a rampant and playful imagination at work. Across four minutes the music ranges from a frantic start with an emergent theme through swaggering unison, surging crescendo, restraining piano and finally layered trumpet and electronics. But there’s an immediate contrast as Jasper Høiby’s pulsing bass propels the gently melodic 'Space Diamonds' with Kit Downes’ reflective piano and Pohjola’s ruminative trumpet unfolding into a power-pop chord sequence.

In fact, the album has as many tightly managed moments as flights of freedom, the unifying features being well-crafted short and simple themes and Pohjola’s distinctive trumpet sound and style. With the exception of Tuomo Prättälä’s electronics, the core quintet is a new one for the Finn, with drummer Olavi Louhivuoro replacing Pohjola’s usual foil Mika Kallio, and there is a nice unity of purpose in the group sound. Things lean perilously close to pastiche in the ballad 'Save This One For When You Need It' but Pohjola’s sincerity and the understated economy of Downes’ piano over the extended brass section keep it on the right side of schmaltzy.

Høiby’s inimitable tone, precision and sheer relentlessness are an important ingredient throughout, patiently holding things together in tandem with Louhivuoro and there are notably tight trio sections with trumpet and then piano in the middle of 'Bebe'. Things close with 'Out Of Silence', a trumpet-led discursion slowly building to an energetic unison where Pohjola soars away leaving Downes to a witty deconstruction that in turn spurs a free improvisation resolved into a strident coda and a fade-out ending. It’s a splendid ensemble piece that deploys all the players’ strengths and rounds off a set of highly polished and surprisingly disciplined monkey business.