We never entirely trust the ostensible positivity of Flaming Swords. It’s a disarming album of very smooth jazz, which it then cuts up into unpredictable, coltish motions. The septet have an infectious sense of play that – forgive the middle-class dad analysis – the French do very well. Fievel is Glauque succeed less in producing consistently compelling percussion and bass lines. The vocals are delicately massaged by the horns, but pin pricked by the drums and ignored by the bass. Flaming Swords was recorded live in just one night: it would settle cosily in a small bar, but the inherent informality obfiscates the album’s complex arrangements in the remote listening experience.
20/30
A favourite: ‘I’m A Place’
‘Flaming Swords’ is out now via MATH Interactive.
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