There’s an early-2015 tour coming up from the Gondwana Orchestra.

Easily the most striking element of the spiritually inclined Gondwana’s latest album When the World Was One getting a run-out on this tour was the melding of Rachael Gladwin’s harp with the textures of the koto of Keiko Kitamura within the ensemble where Nat Birchall does much of the heavy emotional lifting work powered by the drums of Luke Flowers and orchestra leader Matthew Halsall even moved to take a standout solo on ‘Falling Water.’ Recorded in Manchester in April 2012, it’s certainly an album where modality and mindfulness are vital elements, the Mancunians delivering some of their most inspired work to date. Touring with support from band-on-the-up label-mates Mammal Hands dates are The Cut, Halesworth (23 January); Kings Place, London (24); Millennium Hall, Sheffield (30); and RNCM, Manchester (7 Feb). Matthew Halsall, above