“It’s never been my intention to make a guitar album”, explains Dominic Miller in relation to Vagabond, his third album for ECM. “Thanks to the amazing singers I’ve worked with over the years I see myself more as an instrumental songwriter. And as they do, I see it [as] my mission to surround myself with the best musicians who understand the narratives in the ‘songs’.” There are no singers on Vagabond, but there’s nonetheless a strong storytelling element to the compositions and performances, as well as a strongly poetic component – perhaps unsurprisingly since the album was named for a John Masefield poem of the same name beloved by Miller’s late father. ‘All Change’ is a propulsive, restless opener, with a characterful role for pianist Jacob Karlzon, ‘Cruel But Fair’ shifts affairs to a more wistful mood, and it is in a reflective vein that the recording largely proceeds, via the likes of the gentle and tender ‘Open Heart’ and ‘Vaugines’ (the name of a small village near to Miller’s home in southern France), before coming to a dreamy halt with the closing ballad, ‘Lone Waltz’.