Album: Matthew Bourne, Montauk Variations (Leaf)

The wittily deconstructive (or merely annoying, depending on your point of view) pianist Matthew Bourne goes all English-pastoral in this largely lovely solo suite.

There's a bit of mad plinky-plonk, but otherwise Bourne uses space and consonance to create a series of meditations on mood and place, exemplified by the beautiful "Infinitude". He overdubs cello to produce string-section accompaniment, and ends with Chaplin's "Smile". "Etude Psychotique" is the one to avoid.