The phenomenal success of Portico Quartet’s 2007 début album “Knee Deep In The North Sea” ensures that 2009’s “Isla” comes saddled with the burden of “tricky second album syndrome”. “Knee Deep” was full of catchy tunes that had been comprehensively road tested on audiences at the Portico’s legendary busking sessions on the South Bank and beyond and was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize. 

The novelty value of the hang drum ensured a good deal of publicity for this highly talented young band. Designed in Switzerland the hang is a genuine 21st Century instrument. Famously looking like two woks glued together it’s distinctive sound, a kind of cross between a steel pan and a gamelan, allows it to function as both a rhythmic and a melodic instrument thereby helping to give Portico their unique identity. The Mercury nomination helped the group gain a young, cult following outside the normal jazz demographic and their concerts (among them an appearance at the 2009 Cheltenham Jazz Festival when the Pillar Room was packed to the rafters) were frequently sell out affairs. 

Some members of the jazz establishment were rather sniffy about Portico’s success dismissing them as a novelty act and citing a lack of improvisational content. I’ve seen the group live a couple of times at Brecon Jazz Festival in 2008 and more recently in the village of East Quantoxhead in Somerset on their destined to be legendary village hall tour. I’ve never failed to be impressed by the standard of musicianship and the understated charm with which the group present their music. Accessibility doesn’t have to equal compromise- think E.S.T. or Pat Metheny-and the main reason Portico have attracted such attention is because they’re good. They write attractive tunes, are all excellent players and have established a strong group identity not only through the use of the hang but through the tightness that comes from being in a working band that has paid it’s dues through hundreds of performances together. Besides which if you asked them they probably wouldn’t describe their music as “jazz” in the first place.

That said “Isla” may go some way to appeasing the group’s detractors. It has a perceptibly darker edge and a greater degree of improvisational content. Since their début the group have moved labels migrating from Babel to Peter Gabriel’s Real World. Such is their current stock that legendary rock producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead etc.) has been drafted in to work with them and he leaves his mark on the record. “Isla” may not be as immediate as it’s predecessor but it does reveal a clear sense of development and a new maturity.

Leckie has encouraged the group to add new elements to their sound. Saxophonist Jack Wyllie adds subtle electronic effects (mainly loops) to the sonic palette and drummer Duncan Bellamy adds occasional marimba and even piano to the proceedings. Nick Mulvey remains the group’s hang specialist and the subtle but powerful double bass of Milo Fitzpatrick rounds out the group.

Besides their winning tunes Portico are also notable for their complex, interlocking rhythms which frequently draw comparisons with the music of contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass. These are in evidence throughout the deeply layered music of “Isla” and are frequently more complex and subtle than on “Knee Deep.”

However the most striking change is in Wyllie’s saxophone sound. He specialises on soprano, although he is also heard on tenor, and there is a new biting, quality to his tone that gives much of his playing an almost Middle Eastern feel. Wyllie cites Pharoah Sanders and Albert Ayler as influences in this new direction. He reminds me of the late Charlie Mariano. In a recent interview both Wyllie and Bellamy stated that they had been listening to a lot more improvised music lately and that is certainly borne out by the evidence of “Isla”.

Wyllie’s new sound is certainly in evidence on the turbulent (for Portico) opener “Paper, Scissors, Stone” as he keens purposefully above the meshed rhythms generated by Mulvey, Bellamy and Fitzpatrick. As his saxophone is nominally the band’s only melody instrument the onus is on Wyllie to always find something interesting to say and he certainly rises to the challenge here. He’s never sounded quite like this before, his tone now has a real edge to it, one that I, already an established Portico fan found compelling. It is to be hoped that all those others who found “Knee Deep” so enthralling will stick around. “Isla” is not as immediately accessible as it’s predecessor and may not appeal quite so much on the first listen. But stick with it, it’s well worth it and although more subtly complex this music is never “difficult”- the group’s tunes are just too strong for that.

This new dark edge is evident on the eerie “The Visitor” and the following “Dawn Patrol” on which Fitzpatrick is outstanding. He’s sometimes buried in the mix on record but live it becomes clear just what a monster player he is. Fitzpatrick also contributes the album’s occasional string quartet arrangements played by violinists David Larkin and Mizuka Yamomoto together with Jose Gandia (viola) and Greg Duggan (cello).

The range of textures and rhythms on the new album demonstrate the group’s increasing maturity and represent a real step forward. The impressionistic ” Line” is clear evidence of this, the music having a definite cinematic quality.

“Life Mask Interlude” is a charming pictorial vignette featuring Bellamy on piano that leads into “Clipper”, arguably the album’s most important track. “Clipper” is a superb distillation of both the old and new Porticos.  A winning tune that could have been on the group’s first album is hijacked by a stormy middle section full of squalling saxophone, whistling electronics and explosive drumming,  a demonstration of the group’s new improvisatory dark side. In a piece which I suspect represents the clipper vessel of the title being caught in a violent storm all is resolved peacefully in the end   courtesy of Mulvey’s trademark hang and Fitzpatrick’s resonant double bass.

“Life Mask” itself begins by demonstrating Portico’s minimalist tendencies but gradually a beautiful lilting melody emerges. In a superbly nuanced group performance Fitzpatrick shines with a deeply resonant and lyrical bass solo but really this is a superb team effort all round. I include Leckie in this, the low key electronic embellishments are subtly and effectively incorporated into the fragile mix.

The title track builds from quiet beginnings to a dark hued intensity with muscular sax work from Wyllie (he swops from tenor to soprano mid tune) and full on drumming from Bellamy. Added electronics plus the presence of the string quartet add extra colour to the big picture.

The wholly improvised “Shed Song” closes the album. In true rock’n'roll fashion the group live together in a shared London house and this piece was literally recorded in their shed (Abbey Road had to do for the rest of the album). Less structured than anything they’ve recorded before this gently haunting piece is highly effective and points to other avenues for the band to explore.

“Isla” itself is a considerable step forward and one senses there’s plenty of mileage in this remarkable group yet. At a very young age they’ve established a unique signature sound and this second album represents a considerable advance on their already hugely impressive début. The hang is still at the heart of the Portico sound but it is now seems less of a novelty as their shared group identity/aesthetic grows stronger. 

Now with two exceptional albums under their belt and with a growing reputation as quality live performers Portico Quartet should be around for quite a while yet with their genre defying music. “Isla” manages to be simultaneously charming and challenging. It’s a hard trick to carry off but bodes well for the future. One of the best albums of the year.

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