Sloth Racket have put in a lot of hours – both on the road and in the studio – since the release of Triptych last year. And it shows. Sure, Shapeshifters, still focuses on the perennial tension between improvisation and composition but, whereas their debut conspicuously signposted these contrasting approaches – slipping from gauzy, hesitant improv into booted riffage, not dissimilar to The Thing's spittle-flecked garage skronk, and back again – this latest is a much subtler affair. Themes and motifs emerge almost subliminally from thoughtful, restrained group activity, linger tantalisingly for mere moments and then subside. There's some superb ensemble and individual playing too: Johnny Hunter's crisp snare rolls and lurching clatter act as a juddering motor; Anton Hunter's chameleonic electric guitar flutters between menacing growl, splintered webs and dreamily delicate backwards sighs; and is that Sam Andreae peeping his tenor sax mouthpiece like a trilling penny whistle, Don Cherry-style? Finally, after 40 minutes or so of intensely executed interplay, pregnant with pauses and possibilities, it's time to let rip with a rocking finale of four-square guitar crunch and smashed hi-hats. They've earned it.