Mother Standard edition

A passion for exploration comes naturally to Xylouris White, the ruggedly visionary duo formed of Cretan lute player George Xylouris and Australian drummer Jim White. The duo's instincts drive them further onwards still on their third album, 'Mother', named to denote "new life".

As Xylouris puts it, "Mother is the extension of 'Goats' and 'Black Peak'.

Three things, all part of a whole. Goats are mothers, Zeus was raised on Amaltheia's milk, Black Peak is Mother Earth... Mother Earth is the mother of everything."

Across 'Mother's' nine tracks, Xylouris White nurture fecund growths from the spaces between their instruments. Sometimes the songs drive with an invigorating urgency; sometimes they brood, plead, yearn and lull. The duo seem to discover each other anew at every turn, teasing the songs out from their fluid chemistry with the kind of virtuosity that knows when to listen, accommodate and learn afresh.