Ishmael Ensemble’s new LP Visions of Light is a bold expression of UK jazz without borders, shaped by the sounds and aesthetics of Bristol

Ishmael Ensemble’s horizon-expanding new album Visions of Light is a brilliantly conceived, out there take off from jazz, to be filed alongside the likes of Soccer96 and Emma-Jean Thackray in 2021. But that only tells part of the story, for this is a Bristol record at heart, a spiritual heir to soundsystems, Massive Attack and New Forms. It is apparent in Pete Cunningham and crew’s recombination of influences, open approach to genre and unwillingness to play by the jazz rules. It’s in the smoking beats and killer club or post-club vibes.

Lone bass, harp and degraded atmospherics usher in “Feather” before it takes flight through the innersphere with Cunningham’s saxophone and Holysseus Fly’s voice crossing tendrils. A somnambulist beat-head jam that exists in a smoke-filled moment, this is downtempo gear of the highest order. Hazy shades of Portishead and “Nights Interlude”-era Nightmares on Wax as viewed through the lens of the borderless current UK jazz scene. Then “Wax Werk” is an instrumentalist powerhouse, all organic beats and bubbling electronics set alight by a fiery sax workout. “Soma Centre” journeys into night with a pulsating, squelching groove that sounds more like the combination of the words “acid” and “jazz” than the genre ended up doing; more Carl Craig than Jamiroquai then.

Narcotic soundscaped beats and vox on “Empty Hands” give way to an all-cylinders motorik engine burn, whereas “Looking Glass” builds outsider cinematics around chamber pop stylings. Neither of which quite prepares the listener for “Morning Chorus”, a genre-defying piece of low-key experimental with universal appeal. Here Chris Hillier steps behind the (processed) mike and the results are as understated as they are massive. Imagine “Everything in its Right Place” Radiohead melting into Mezzanine Massive Attack as led by Shabaka Hutchings. This is the sound of stars collapsing in on themselves as your consciousness expands; an end of night anthem offering hope of light to get through difficult times.

Ishmael Ensemble Bandcamp

Stewart Gardiner
Latest posts by Stewart Gardiner (see all)