Medna Roso

This is the kind of inter-cultural collaboration I can get into. Too often, such projects are the mooncalves of questions like ‘what would happen if we crossed klezmer with samba?’ The results are not always desirable, and the act of simply putting one thing with another, unless skilfully done, can seem too blunt a juxtaposition; like a pilchard meringue.

The constituent parts of Medna Roso, however, meld so organically that, rather than appearing as cameos in each other's narratives, they give birth to something entirely new and independent of its parents.

That isn't to say that there aren't echoes of older sounds here. Indeed, the wellspring of the album is the traditional Balkan repertoire of female vocal quintet PJEV, with layers of Kit Downes’ pipe organ – channelling the cosmic soundscapes of films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Interstellar – and infusions of Hayden Chisholm's sax which brings to mind Jan Garbarek's work with the Hilliard Ensemble. Fans of any of these things, as well as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, overtone singing and raw primal tonalities will find nourishment here.

When you then realise that this album is actually a live concert, your mind will be truly blown.