Los Angeles singer Dwight Trible may be better known as a bandmember – his credits include work with legends such as Pharoah Sanders, Kamasi Washington and, currently, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – but he has also been a consistently good solo artist since his emergence in the 1970s. The follow-up to 2019's Mothership, Ancient Future is Trible's second album for British label Gearbox and it acts as an effective showcase for a baritone of oceanic depth that is surely unfamiliar to the majority of audiences, given the relatively low profile he has.

Featuring guests Washington and producer-electronic artist Georgia Anne Muldrow, this new music is more about rhythmic ingenuity and a loose, off the cuff vibe than it is the rich melodic material that the singer has used to good effect on previous releases such as 2004's Living Water and 2017's Inspirations. Many of the songs have funky backdrops defined by rotund bass and growling keyboards, roughly in Headhunters mode, that create a kind of thicket of rhythmic activity over which Trible glides with customary poise and gravitas. It is a solid rather than spectacular offering, but the politically leaning opener ‘Truth’ sets the tone for music that is very well performed and may be even better when played live.