Things may come, and things may go, but Soft Machine and the Art School dance go on forever. In the five years since the release of the splendid Hidden Details, the world has become a different place. But if there was a band supple and subtle enough to both reflect and ride out change, then it’s the Softs.

With the appropriately named Other Doors, we find the band managing their own succession while reflecting on their own heritage. For John Marshall, at 81, Other Doors is his sign-off, but that’s not to suggest there’s any diminishing of powers. The gong master’s inimitable skills at simultaneously engaging percussion toys and his core kit remains to the fore. And for Roy Babbington, there’s a gifting of the bass domain to Baker. Both appear fittingly on ‘Penny Hitch’, a Karl Jenkins tune from 1973’s 7, with Baker luminously taking the lead line on his fretless. New material burns bright too: Travis’ ‘Crooked Usage’ is a weft and weave of intersecting lines that opens into a free, meditative passage, while solo flights for Etheridge (‘Whisper Back’) counterpoint Travis’ more entwined, mazy constructs like ‘Fell to Earth’. Different dancers may pick up the steps, but the dance, never fear, goes on.