The meeting of Mako Sica, a Chicago trio of multi-instrumentalists who fall artfully between genres and Hamid Drake, one of the great drummer-percussionists in modern creative music, is not without ear-catching moments. Largely downbeat with rustling percussive beds creating a backdrop for shimmering, at times Hawaiian-ish guitar riffs and waning vocals, the music evokes consistently spectral moods that have a potent emotional charge, especially when the musicians start to interact more extensively. However, the big question is whether these marks of distinction don’t actually end up being too distinctive over the five lengthy pieces on the set. The skill of the musicians suggests they could have done well on some shorter numbers with greater variations of tempo and texture, beyond the extended ambient drifts that define the material. ‘The Wu Wei’, which closes proceedings, suggests exciting new possibilities but ultimately subsides into a fairly leaden ostinato that does not have the requisite dynamics. A case of talent in search of a bolder, more convincing artistic direction.