Categorising Sebastian Rochford poses problems. Jazz is at the heart of his work, yet his understanding of and engagement with a wide range of genres are such that it’s impossible to shoehorn his recordings into neat and tidy boxes. Peepers was Rochford’s fourth album as the leader and percussionist of the London-based Polar Bear, alongside collaborators Leafcutter John, Tom Herbert, Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart. It confirms that the unassuming but sharply focused young Scot is pursuing his muse as openly and as adventurously as possible, studiously avoiding any straight retreads of his previous work while letting a distinctive composer’s voice come to the fore.

More than its predecessors (2004’s Dim Lit, 2005’s Mercury Prize-nominated Held On The Tips Of Fingers and 2008’s Polar Bear), Peepers sounds very close to a live Polar Bear performance. The kind of session that has won the group a diverse audience with exuberant music that opens out into moments of freewheeling abstraction. Rochford’s gift for melodic writing acquires new depth on this latest venture, where the music displays both art and pop sensibilities in the most organic and coherent fashion. “I wanted to open the music up with a different kind of harmony,” he says.

Limited first edition DMM vinyl LP + CD – BAY 74V

2015 DMM Leaf 20 white vinyl LP + CD – BAY 74V

CD in 6 panel digipack – BAY 74CD

BAY 74E