This is the second LP from Tom Cawley's trio of progressive nothingness merlins. An unusual notwithstanding engrossing meet pulsating with quirkiness that gels instinctively between the three. The BBC Jazz band of the year deliver something wistful, fascinating, relaxing and challenging all at the same time.
Cleverly written, the LP seems to develop as a whole composing, with one track starting where the other leaves off. Take Roebuck into Song For Greta, or Closer into Curious. This continuous program makes for a beautiful unity.
Though he's the sole writer here, keyboardist Tom Cawley (of Acoustic Ladyland renown) gives the rhythm method section of Burgess and Blackmore clear room to manoeuvre and explore. Intuitively they swap roles. Curious shows off Cawley's technical fluidity with Burgess adding his possess twist on the rut and acquiring a lot of fuel consumption rate out one idea. Linked with Closer you appreciate that these tunes form the spur of the album.
Yet the album has many sides. There ar the tender forays into daydream-like ballads like Trackside View: it encapsulates a bitter pleasantness, with Burgess' melancholic, cello-like playing giving willowy held notes. You can well-nigh forgive them their vocals as they search for that added texture. Again, working in tandem with Roebuck, it really allows the auditor to follow the flow of the trio and the resonance of each instrument as Blackmore tickles and shimmers the cymbals. The unpretentious funk in Bradford is just fine. Cawley's chord groove unleashes Blackmore and Burgess into Headhunter territory.
An record album of great subtlety and nuance, we are reminded with Truce that this is a quintessentially English type of treasure: measured, bright til now delightful and verging on the experimental. Well recommended.
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