A cursory listen to Octava would probably be unduly beguiled by the album’s overall smooth and even sound. Phi-Psonics follow up to 2022’s debut The Cradle maintains the restraint of performance and production that Gondwana’s Matthew Halsall has described as “beautiful, humble and honest music.”

There are, however, depths to the playing that reward more careful listening, thanks to the empathy developed through the quartet’s decade long collaboration. While there’s a uniformity to bandleader and composer Seth Ford-Young’s loping bass and Josh Collazo’s minimal precision on drums throughout, they provide a sure-footed foundation to the dialogue between Mitchell Yoshida’s electric piano and Sylvain Carton’s flute and tenor sax. Their interplay ranges from the simple elaborations of the folky ‘We Walk in The Garden of Our Ancestors’ or the languid waltz ‘Lunar Reflections’ to the almost free improvisation of ‘Where We’ve Been’.

There are clear references to the spiritual jazz of the later Coltrane – that latter track lifts the bassline of A Love Supreme – possibly most evident on ‘An Offering’. It’s a 5/4-time number that takes its time, the slowly evolving tenor sax line eventually yielding to Yoshida’s captivating electric piano, building forward into a complex and energetic deconstruction then relaxing back into the ruminative theme. In the context of Octava’s general deportment it could be almost disruptive but the four players’ well-judged balance remains unruffled.