From the insistent falling fifth which launches the gorgeous opener ‘Memphis in June’ to the moving tableaux of the Tom Waits-penned closer, ‘Take It With Me’, the singer delivers the set with an unswerving honesty and molten intensity. Whether burningly expressive in ‘All The Way’, playfully lyrical in Donovan’s ‘Catch The Wind’ or heartbreakingly sincere in the emotional tour de force of ‘If I loved You’ (featuring her great friend Ian Shaw in the piano chair), Carroll has you hanging on her every note.

The singer’s inventive approach to standards is evidenced by the kaleidoscopic textures and varied moods of ‘Willow Weep For Me’ – slowly chiming chords one moment, a sinuous groove the next. One of the singularly most powerful records I’ve heard all year. This, you feel, is the album that Carroll has been waiting to record her whole life.

Peter Quinn