Portico Quartet, the hang and saxophone-led former buskers who borrowed their name from the stone structure they took refuge under to play after a sudden downpour of rain during a festival performance in Italy, are set to release the follow-up to their critically acclaimed bestseller 2007 Knee Deep In The North Sea album.

The four piece – saxophonist Jack Wyllie, bassist Milo Fitzpatrick hang player Nick Mulvey and drummer/hang player Duncan Bellamy – will release new album Isla in October on Real World Records, produced by John Leckie who 20 years ago produced the seminal debut album of indie rock band, the Stone Roses.

Minimalist and jazz-influenced Portico with a sound coloured by the wok-like Swiss hang include a track on the album previously titled ‘Piano Ballad’ which they played to a packed Pillar Room at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival back in the spring. Newly renamed ‘Life Mask’, the track is the seventh on the album, preceded two tracks earlier by a short ‘Interlude’. Other tracks are: the anthemic ‘Mass Change And Spin’ introspective ‘The Visitor’, bass-led ‘Dawn Patrol’, the hypnotic ‘Line’, saxophone-led ‘Clipper’ which moves into squalling free-jazz territory, five-minute title track ‘Isla’ and closer ‘Shed Song (Improv no 1)’.

– Stephen Graham