This is not a “classical” CD as such; in fact, it defies easy categorisation. Both Joby Talbot and John Metcalfe are composers whose practices straddle numerous genres – for example, the former was a member of cult band The Divine Comedy, the latter a viola player with post-punk Manchester band the Durutti Column. And yet there’s a definite minimalist aesthetic running through these atmospheric works, all of which were commissioned by that tireless proselytiser for the contemporary classical guitar, Tom Kerstens for his G Plus Ensemble.

From the obsessive ostinatos and tricky syncopations of Talbot’s Utopia through the same composer’s radiant First Day of Summer and Latin-inflected Iliac Crest to Metcalfe’s superb The Third Fire, a triptych for solo guitar and digital delay, and the sombre, elegiac As She Fell, this is music that for the most part eschews complicated musical development in favour of hypnotic cascades of sound and visceral, rhythmically vibrant accretions. Kerstens and friends play with a precision that seems to grow out of the nature of the material rather than being imposed on it – interpretation at its most natural. It’s also great to hear Kerstens on bass guitar, as the music sometimes requires.

As Kerstens says in his booklet-note, “Rather than engaging in dubious ‘cross-over’ projects I wanted music that, whilst incorporating pop, rock, jazz and classical elements, simply is ‘itself’: expressive, individual and open to a potentially wide audience.” Mission accomplished.