And who could blame them? Heard again after a gap of some months, I have to confess, the trio of older compositions that followed the opening Judgement, with its eerie, snaking guitar and organ lines, were a perfect reminder of just how strong this Anglo-Scottish-Canadian ensemble's musical ideas are.

The menacing, Mahavishnu-like chord sequence of The City from the Window, the easy switch from swing time to free form in Blink and On the Walk's sheer tunefulness – more than once I asked myself if this was another of contemporary jazz's pop cover versions – all served to highlight, also, the understanding that organist Paul Harrison, guitarist Graeme Stephen and drummer Chris Wallace have developed.

All three musicians contribute to the repertoire, resulting in a wide variety of approaches including Stephen's dizzying, tricky metred Makedonsko, Wallace's Latin America-flavoured In the Eye and Harrison's Song Without a Voice, with its delicate, intricately structured melody reminiscent of Canterbury scene prog-jazzers Gilgamesh.

These all come from the new album and along with the title track, they inspired much enquiring, brilliantly realised soloing from Stephen and Harrison, whose range of tones and colours lifts his playing into increasingly exciting levels, while Wallace alternates as a fluent time keeper and the boss of the controlled rhythmical surge. What especially impresses, though, is the way in which all the diverse ingredients coalesce into a sound that is wholly Breach's own. The rest of the tour should be very interesting indeed.

HHHH