Melbourne psychedelic jazz collective I Hold the Lion's Paw present their debut studio album, 'Abstract Playgrounds'.

Led by trumpeter-composer Reuben Lewis, I Hold the Lion's Paw (IHTLP) is an eight-piece collective that features some of Melbourne's most exciting musicians. The music is born out of an organic cross-over of afro-beat, jazz and outré electronics. Expect to hear as much as electro-acoustic noise, slowly evolving soundtracks, afro-beat inspired grooves and psychedelic free jazz.

The album was produced by Reuben Lewis and edited by sound-artist Mark Shepherd, who assembled a day of live jamming in the studio to prepare material that would later be dissected, abstracted and re-composed into a single-take long-form improvisation and an electro-acoustic remix. Originally conceived as an LP in two chapters, side A is an unedited studio take performed without any pre-planned structure or set-list. Side B reimagines the IHTLP concept through an interconnected series of electro-acoustic pieces.

Lewis says of the music; "I have always wanted to develop a band that could traverse any of the sound worlds I inhabit, and to go one further, bring these worlds together in a way that enables a constantly evolving dialogue through improvisation. Abstract Playgrounds is a voyeuristic glimpse into the development of the IHTLP concept and the first of many musical chapters to come."