Spontaneous Music Ensemble, a trio of percussion/trumpet, guitar, and violin, build their music from slight improvised gestures that are wholly devoid of the blues, which aligns them more with the European Improv school than fiery, soulful Free Jazz. "New Surfacing 1978 and 1992" is comprised of two sessions that have a 14 year gap in their composition, and presents the final period of SME's long arc of creative output. The group's approach is similar on both occasions despite the time lapsed between, illustrating that their concept was already fully formed by the mid 70's and not so much changed over time as it continued to expand through the decades. Tracks one and two come from a Newcastle concert recorded on cassette in 1978 and have a resonant room sound that bathes each sonic event in natural reverb. The recording is tonally rich with violin and muted guitar providing melodic counterpoint to the skittering percussion as well as adding their own cadency. This music sounds small in a way as it hardly ever really explodes as much as it maintains a perpetual forward motion, finding mass in room sound instead of forceful execution.

The latter recording, "Complete Surfaces", is a pristine sounding studio date from 1992. Compared to the Newcastle gig this one is quite dry and free of any extra reverb, bringing each musical detail into sharp focus. The drumming is crisp and precise in its reckless abandon, sounding more like John Stevens is playing a drumset than disparate percussive devices (such as on the live recording). The guitar really shines here with muted picking, aggressive strumming, and lower register plucking in addition to drumming on the body. He is able to cover a broad frequency range and contribute considerably to the rhythmic push of the music. The violin also divides time between melodic and rhythmic motifs with scratching sounds and bowed tunefulness finding equal representation. This later date is a bit more explosive at times and slightly more varied dynamically.

Some of the music on this disc was previously available but not in its complete form or at such high fidelity, making this CD a must have for fans and a great introduction to the uninitiated. SME existed out of (and devoid of) time and therefore remain fresh 30 or 40 years after the fact.