Philipp Gropper is a German composer and saxophonist of jazz and modern creative style. Ultimately, Philm use Gropper's themes as a way of goading the jazz language to its limits. All four band members are highly sensitised, lashed to a convoluted framework, but frequently escaping into the unpredictable dark corners of improvisation.

The searching, cyclical aura of double bassist and composer Hayden Prosser’s debut acoustic album "Tether" fascinatingly finds its roots in electronic and process music. Hailing from Somerset, England, and now based in Berlin, Prosser met up with New York pianist Elias Stemeseder - the starting point for this quartet’s sound with tenor saxophonist Philipp Gropper and drummer Max Santner - which set up the piano-and-bass connectivity that informs many of the album’s eleven original tracks.