Hamburg pianist Lambert wears a mask when he performs – and he first donned it long before Covid, moreover; the masking is less a matter of health and safety, and more one of art and mystery (for the record, it's a horned Sardinian mask generally worn at carnival time, rather than a surgical-style one).

Beginning in 2014 with his self-titled debut album, his style is routinely labelled ‘neo-classical’ and he's been described as ‘a phantom haunting the space between romance and pop culture’ – he's declared that The Beatles are an influence and that he ‘religiously’ loves Oasis (he's done a tinkly cover of ‘Wonderwall’ to prove the point). He's also collaborated with German techno artist Stimming and is now onto his eighth release, which is said to bring to the fore his early immersion in jazz and improv.

All This Time, released in partnership with the great jazz label Verve, is announced as the work of a Bill Evans-style trio with a sound akin to that of the Esbjörn Svensson Trio and others. I’m not sure that's entirely right. There's the minimal, quivering classicism of the title track, which, like other cuts here such as ‘Bummel’ and ‘Pants’, is adorned with electronic shimmers and cinematic washes of sound, and a general preponderance of prettiness over intensity. ‘Loud’ begins with a welcome suggestion of clangour, although it quickly resolves itself into eminently fluid, hummable lyrical lines. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but ‘neo-classical/pop’ probably remains a more accurate description than 'jazz improv'.