The Australian quartet The Vampires formed in 2009 and they’re now on their seventh album to date. The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke, released in 2017, saw them seamlessly integrate the unique Benin-born guitarist into their soundworld, a convivial mix of pan-global folk roots and ambient groove-jazz lyricism. They do it again on Nightjar but with a guest who's far closer to home: Chris Abrahams is the pianist with The Necks, a band that's an inescapable inspiration to contemporary Aussie musicians favouring creative improvisational forms. That being said, The Vampires have an altogether different approach, their breezily elegant yet subtly inventive music is bound for the most part by song narrative rather than cyclical forms, so for Abrahams it perhaps comes as something of a break from the hypnotic, micro-evolving minimalism of his co-led high-profile international cult trio.

Yet there's a seductive precision to the music on the new recording that's also reflected in the exquisite studio production values and excellent moments of improv that are perfectly pitched in this context, with Abrahams’ insistent, yet enigmatic, contributions among them. The music shifts from a sensuously stylish funkily reggae-pop feel, soothing horn arrangements with influences from the Middle East or Ethiojazz through to a sultrily ambient Nordic-like acoustic chamber jazz, and even a touch of quirky latin-ish psych-rock.

A warm, uplifting, and unfashionable brand of jazz that doesn't take itself too seriously.