''Turn the clock to zero, buddy, Don't wanna be no fuddy duddy, We're starting up a brand new day.''

Cheers, Sting - where did it all go wrong, giving up the jazz?

But make the leap. Far, far better than 2019's Citizen this particular sting, not even a funny jumper more a jolt to the senses, is as entertaining as it is certainly art. Portuguese drummer Zoe Pascal's playing seems to suit these tunes better. Crucially this is all so much less earnest sounding than before. You can be too nice, after all. It seems the more Duncan Eagles dares the more the saxophonist wins. And certainly this is challenging grown up playing but communicative too so passes the relatability threshold.

Beyond jumpers for goalposts - no not our friend-in-the-north again - more the inimitable Ron Manager but firmly back of the net. At a remove from the piano-less Partikel sound - String Theory back in 2015 is still the go-to must - that leader Eagles (born in 1985) and the bassist here, a leader in his own right Max Luthert (check 2014 sextet sizzler Orbital), have long been part of. Pascal, whose influences include Adam Nussbaum, we caught in the band of Renato Paris at Ronnie's, impressed us a lot wisely stroking a very inspired groove that night playing in a Stevie Wonder-type soul situation. The drummer is even better here but this couldn't be more different stylistically - essentially ''post-Brecker'' (a frustratingly nebulous term but it is what it is) but not as blizzard busy as when the style can and does go magically full tonto over playing cycles of choruses in every key and chord progression known to Slonimsky.

Instead ''new-melodic'' tunes and fine they are too from the pen of Eagles emerge that swerve away from being too verbose and too maudlin but are bittersweet enough to land an emotional haymaker as the gun smoke of the more labyrinthine passages clears to reveal a firm grasp on reality. The pianist, Polish born Tomasz Bura, perched on the Eagles Band stool, (and unlike on Citizen there is no guitarist in tow) also contributes a lot especially in the chillingly refreshing quasi-classical sense of poise he factors in at the beginning of 'Local Hero'. Pascal busily edges forward 'The Bakehouse' which has some of the best heat on an album where nothing is lukewarm. The offbeats and delayed strikes he makes on 'Severance' induce some head bobbing, always a good sign. The Eagles originals again are far more compelling on this studio album recorded last year - particularly the ballad 'Rosebush' where Dunc does a Joshua Redman-like slam dunk, a feat he repeats on the more quizzical and amiably puntastic 'Suburbiton'. An almost vulnerable sense, which when evident can certainly penetrate deep into the iciest of hearts, comes through very well on 'Severance'. Bravo.

Duncan Eagles, photo: Kevin Gruetzner

Out on 19 May. Ahead of release the hymnal 'Elden,' that bassist Max Luthert contributes heavily to, drawn from Narrations is streaming. The next live date coming up for Eagles and his Quartet - joining the saxist from the album are Bura, Luthert & Pascal - is a Peggy's Skylight appearance in Nottingham on Sunday night. Details