A veteran musician continues his ode to the Pacific.

Born in the UK and now based in Italy, Mike Cooper has half a century of recordings under his belt, starting out as a bluesman in the 1960s, appearing regularly on John Peel’s show in the decade after and then forming his free improv group The Recedents with Lol Coxhill and Roger Turner in 1982.

Now based in Italy, he’s spent the much of the past two decades exploring the islands of Oceania and recording music inspired by his travels, including works like Beach Crossings-Pacific Footprints, which traces the history of colonisation in the Pacific.

Following his other Room40 releases of 21st century exotica, White Shadows In The South Seas and Rayon Hula, Cooper has announced his latest tropical opus, Fratello Mare. Named after Folco Quilici’s 1975 documentary film, the album combines his lap steel with exotic music and percussion along with field recordings made on islands across South East Asia and the Caribbean, and it’s a briney, sun-bleached daydream of a record.

The album is out on July 31 through Lawrence English’s Room40 label, and you can watch a video for the title track below.