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In December 2012, Jaga’s main songwriter, Lars Horntveth, left Norway and moved to Los Angeles. There, on the other side of the world, inspired by the space around him, the size of the sky above him, the endless light flashing past as he drove round the city at night, he began composing the new suite of works which would become 'Starfire'. Periodically he was joined by other members of the 8-piece band who would lay down their contributions in his apartment / studio before returning home to Norway. When the basics of the album were in place, he went back to Oslo to finish the record in the professional studios that the band had built and furnished over the years.

The result is a revelation. After the more heavily scored work of 'One Armed Bandit' and 'Live' with the Britten Sinfonia, 'Starfire' moves to a more experimental studio-led approach - "The idea was that we thought about the songs as both the original song and a remix in one" - morphing each song into a variety of sonic directions. With an increase in the use of electronics and the guitar work of Marcus Forsgren given new prominence, it’s probably the least straightforwardly “jazz” of their records. Instead, all the elements which have made them such an important band - the way their technical chops combine with the kind of mutual sympathy which comes from growing up together - are here melded into an utterly unique sound on what could turn out to be the group’s crowning achievement.

'Starfire' is a beautiful, visceral, utterly exhilarating piece of work that keeps spiralling up and away, structurally complex, musically rigorous, but without ever losing touch with a certain earthy sensuality and human sympathy. It could just be Jaga's masterpiece.