The Remote Viewers might include throat-cutting improvised sections amidst notated scores, or emit toneless murmurs during long stretches of suspension. Nonetheless, two words that perfectly identify their music are "order" and "intelligibility". Perhaps I'm slightly influenced by the public image projected by the press pictures showing them neatly attired. However, the sense of lucidity conveyed by a recording like this is not questionable.

Following a series of changes in the lineup for the preceding chapters, Last Man In Europe is a trio for two saxophones (Dave Petts and Adrian Northover) and double bass (John Edwards). This reduced version works splendidly: the melodic materials intelligently shared, the rhythmic propulsion as precise as a surgeon's knife. Still, never an assassin's calm demeanor has been a sign of affability. In "The Gods Take A Holiday", the alternance of quasi-minimalist vamping, raucous dissonance and odd-metered sprouts embedded within a quaternary pulse symbolizes the many instances in which the Remote Viewers' sound gives a hard time to a reviewer looking to classify their output.

Additional honorable mentions go to the initial "The Noise Of History" — a genuine chamber miniature — and the title track, whose angular eccentricity is a joy to decode. Throughout this and previous albums, what emerges is the ability of turning impossible-to-sing intervals and harsh clusters into something that appears completely natural, at least to trained ears. It must be told that Edwards' dual role — in a way, he's also a percussionist on this album — is often essential to grant Petts and Northover the necessary solid ground to highlight their spectacular coordination. As his bowed notes join the reeds in "Windblown", we probably reach the album's very pinnacle.

The Remote Viewers create their own set of rules and fully respect them, inviting us to observe the proceedings without a hint of verbosity. Sheer seriousness speaks volumes, and this is — as always — a brilliant release.