An astonishing piece of work, Tollak once again shows there is no end to his brilliance and ambitious reach as a writer, and his phenomenal singing voice has only gotten more expressive as his creative gifts continue to grow. There is less harmonica on this outing, perhaps a small disappointment for those of us who are under the spell of his much lauded expertise on this instrument. But what there is certainly suffices to remind us why so many major artists (Don Henley, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, Earth Wind and Fire, Andrea Bocelli etc.) have turned to him to grace their work with his artistry. There is still plenty of his beautiful and unique mixture of soul-ambient-pop-jazz to satisfy those who were fans of his previous outing "Walk the Earth", but the artistic growth he shows in tracks like "Undertow" and "Paper doll" show an inspired creator at the top of his game still incorporating new influences but in such a sincere unaffected way that to this listener it feels like a very natural outgrowth of what he's already done. He chose a Beatles tune for the one cover song on the album, "Come together", what a refreshing and incredibly soulful take on this classic. And a first rate supporting cast backing him up, featuring legendary players like Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Haslip among others. A wonderful banquet of auditory pleasures from this unusually gifted artist, at once surprising and yet familiar, but always inspiring.