With Narrations, Duncan Eagles takes another step away from the Partikel nucleus that acted as the saxophonist-composer’s creative crucible for many years. His second release on the US label Ropeadope is an attractive blend of modern straight-ahead, gritty funk and delicate balladry, threaded together by Eagles’ honeyed tenor.

The album also sees Eagles step away from unifying thematic concepts of previous releases: these are individual pieces held together by loose threads. That eclecticism suits Narrations’ musical currency, made up of rhythmic loose change; from a base language inflected with funk, melodies are suitably hooky, lines are fragmented, seeking connection. ‘Elden’ is where things really start to cook, with lithe protracted tutti lines that eventually emerge into achingly emotive wails from Eagles.

The 10-minute ‘Suburbiton’ is more exploratory than its quotidian name suggests; ‘Local Hero’ is plaintive and glassy, and tune ‘The Bakehouse’ should really be called ‘The Roasthouse’ – a peppy and energetic tune criss-crossing through time signatures, and concluding with a big Zoé Pascal solo. It’s another good, solid release from Eagles, even if it's not quite the sum of its parts.