Since bursting onto the jazz scene in the noughties, the Beninois guitar prodigy has carved a niche as much as a soundscaper as improviser, and albums such as 2008's Karibu were notable for his deployment of live electronics. This is a change of tack. In a word this is Loueke rocking out, stripping both the band right down to the trio formed of longstanding collaborators and for the most part switching off the technology to produce a very raw, crackly sound that is arguably more immediate than some of his previous work. Not that he has totally foregone the finesse that won him garlands in the first place. But tougher, harder backbeats, funkier riffs and bluesy, behind the beat themes, vaguely Scofieldish at times, push him into a new stylistic space. The 11 pieces are well wrought and executed with some of the material still channeling crisp African rhythms in interesting ways, none more so than the percussive stomp that Loueke makes of the Bee Gees’ ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’, which enhances the beautiful melody that simmered under all those pyrex-shattering harmonies.