Swainger’s roots are in the vibrant Bristol scene; indeed Saudi-born Ant Law is something of an outlier in this West Country based unit. But you’d not know given the easeful interplay of this band on compositions largely drawn from Swainger’s experience of lockdown. Notwithstanding the horrors of the (ongoing) Covid pandemic, Swainger seems to have found the last year or so a creative period: and with Pointless Beauty, riding on the spirit of that Martin Luther quote that gives the release its title, he has produced a recording of gentle strengths and spiritual uplift. The tone’s set by the melodic drive of ‘The Way Back’ which is graced by Alesbrook’s controlled horn and an epic solo from Law in a rather different mode from his splendid but often knotty solo work.

Swainger doesn’t indulge his own playing, barring his solo, FX-shrouded ‘Existential Blues’, but his compositions allow space for Alesford, notably on echoplexy flugelhorn on ‘Sunshine Travelling’, muted trumpet on ‘Two Steps’ (where Law rocks out big time) or doing his Miles thing on ‘Stir Crazy’. What’s not to like?