Xylouris White are an unlikely duo. George Xylouris is a distinguished exponent of the Cretan lute, while Jim White is an Australian drummer, best known for his work with the instrumental rock band Dirty Three. Two years on from their debut album, Goats, comes this follow-up, in which they further develop their inventive and often thrilling fusion style by concentrating on songs rather than instrumentals. But the emphasis is on improvisation rather than predictable structures; so on the exhilarating title track, Xylouris mixes Cretan influences with pounding rock riffs, with his powerful baritone voice at times backed only by White’s inventive percussion. Elsewhere, the duo switch direction with the edgy and menacing Hey, Musicians, on which slow, brooding vocals are backed by increasingly furious lute playing and percussion, or the eerie Erotokritos, which mixes growled, spoken passages with vocals from Bonnie “Prince” Billy.
