At first listen, this is a curious departure for Douglas. It is predominantly tonal, melodic, strongly lyric-based, and with a contemporary country singer given centre stage. His trumpet, still with its commanding tone, forceful edge and beautiful sound, is often more in the role of decorative addition to the music than at its core, and the same can also be said of the saxophone of Jon Irabagon, the gentlest aspects of whose playing will surprise those who know him from the band Mostly Other People Do The Killing. His beautiful solo on the Appalachian tune ‘High On A Mountain’ is the epitome of the style that has been dubbed ‘countrypolitan’. The closest piece in feel to the more familiar post-bop-meets-free side of Douglas’ quintet work is ‘Middle March’ written to commemorate the late Paul Motian, but it nevertheless combines elements of freedom with a lyricism that is more overt on Douglas’ other originals ‘Going Somewhere With You’ and an imaginative re-working of the Scottish hymn ‘Living Streams’. And it's the hymn that's the clue to the musical world of this album, a living memorial to Dave's mother who passed away last year after a long battle with cancer. She chose the programme for her memorial, and what Douglas has done here is to take that music forward into an album of rare beauty, unashamed lyricism and deeply connected to his upbringing and congregational church background. There's a purity and innocence about O'Donovan's voice that seems to have been infectious, and the entire record takes much of its overall tone and style from her simple, unadorned delivery and subtle underplayed guitar. There is complexity, in the rhythmic density of some of the arrangements and in the harmonic invention of the solos, but the feeling one is left with is of excesses being reined back, in the service of an overall aesthetic vision for the album that is both calm and deeply reflective.