With Philtre Nitin Sawhney releases his most accomplished album to date. With help from a fair few friends, and seriously worthy ones to boot, including Ojos de Brujo, Vikter Duplaix, Bollywood vocalist Reena Bhardwaj and Ninja Tunes' Fink he weaves a musical blend that will take you from a darkened room in America's deep south, to the furious heat and endless dancing of a Spanish fiesta, to a Bollywood film set and far more besides.

The album flows more easily than previous work, and there is more of a dance element in the fore, most likely born of Sawheny's stints at Fabric, his Fabric Live album and the remix compilation All Mixed Up. It's easy to see how he would incorporate the slightly heavier beats of the new material, the increased emphasis on varying speeds and more danceable rhythms into his DJ sets.

The ambitious mix on Philtre includes an r'n b joint 'Flipside', the deep and ponderous 'Journey' and 'Noches en Vela' in which flamenco guitars compete furiously with one another. There are sublime moments, which make you feel as though you have discovered something truly deep as in 'Spark', in which Tina Grace barely sings but almost breathes the words: 'You've stolen my silence, scattered my peace/ I'm lost in the dark, mislaid my spark'. The ambience under the tracks is backed up by some heavy beats as on 'Dead Man' a fantastic American Deep South meets India vibe with a heavy blues feel -- and I could go on, there are more highlights on the album than by rights there should be.

Philtre is far less political than Beyond Skin, Prophesy and Human, and whereas I was first brought to Sawhney's music initially through his political stance and talk of him would inevitably lead to discussion of politics, it's refreshing to see him move away from making albums which make bold statements to one which has its full emphasis on developing and exploring music alone.

Philtre is released on 2 May and if a more accomplished or exciting album comes out of England this year I will eat my tabla. And my Spanish guitar.

Read Wyl's interview with Nitin about the making of Philtre and you can listen to some of the tracks from Philtre at www.contactmusic.com and Nitin's website is well worth checking out at www.nitinsawhney.com.