Deem something a ''late night listen'' risks entertaining a cliché. But there is nothing hackneyed about Last Decade.
In the cold light of day it is instead a work that thrives on rigid introspective examination and is often quite mournful - certainly on 'Where Do We Go From Here.'
It may be a shock to some but Last Decade isn't the kind of record that someone would reach for standing in the kitchen to put on at a party unless the party-goers are fresh from a colloquium of philosophers.
While certainly sensitive, probing, sometimes intense music but not self-consciously so at all the quartet however paradoxically play accessible melodies. There is even a tremendous groove from Manu Katché on 'Circular Confidence' - but essentially Last Decade isn't designed as a ''groove'' record.
The ethereal 'Hung Up On That Ghost' with its haunting vocalised wordless shard of light is a strong suit. And pianist Benny Lackner floats over all his material as if on another cloud. When he does take a solo - turning again to 'Circular Confidence' - he is collegiate and suspends his ego for the greater whole but certainly has a fine touch that recalls the approach of Marcin Wasilewski.
The Benjamin Lackner quartet l-r Mathias Eick, Benjamin Lackner, Manu Katché, Jérôme Regard. Photo: bennylackner.com
A lot of the success of the record derives from the highly knowing very reverberant beat that bassist Jérôme Regard provides at key moments. Trumpeter Mathias Eick is Tomasz Stańko-like more than ever. And that quasi-tragic sense that the great Pole knew how to use as a raw material to tell his own reveries and stories in song Eick shares through his own bleakly humane sound.
The best thing about the album is the strength of the originals, most of these written by Lackner himself. Producer Matthew Eicher has drawn something special out of the pianist and all concerned on the record for a glistening, life affirming creation. Last Decade is to be issued tomorrow. 'Circular Confidence' and 'Camino Cielo' stream ahead of the full release.