Declaring that he is "no longer able to ignore overwhelming and outrageous recent world events", trumpeter and composer Michael Mantler leaves the world of abstract music behind to tackle a host of contemporary evils head-on in 'Comment c'est'.

His texts for the album, sung by French-born singer Himiko Paganotti, respond to what he calls "the all-pervading environment of hatred, greed and corruption." Comment c'est "refers specifically and reacts strongly to recent events and concerns itself with a range of deadly serious subjects, such as war, terrorism, hostages, migration, poverty, fear and the exceedingly sorry state of the world in general."