Trumpeter Croker has always been vocal about the substantial influence the late Roy Hargrove exerted on him, and this interesting new offering takes him close to his spirit in ways that are obvious and not so obvious. There is a similarly intelligent blend of soulful melodies and hard-edged rhythms, finessed by the engineering of Bob Power, who worked with Hargrove's star collaborators, Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. Yet Croker also has a more marked Afro-house sensibility in some of his writing and arranging, which puts the onus as much on soaring unison lines with saxophonist Irwin Hall as it does on the leader's solos, which blend radiant timbres with spinning phrases. Moreover, he is in the producer's chair and his programming and effects bring additional nuance to the mix, filtering and thinning out a vocal to make it a touch more wistful, or drawing a sensual digital muffle over some of the synthesizer parts. Perhaps most impressively, Croker has also edited performances so that the 10 tracks make a running time under 45 minutes – one side of a trusty C-90 – so the material is well paced towards the climactic closer ‘Understand Yourself’, which has an imperious, strikingly conscious vocal from Jamaican reggae sensation Chronixx.