Anyone who thinks they already know the full extent of Cécile McLorin Salvant's artistry should listen to Mélusine without further delay. Bringing together five new Salvant originals with the most eclectic array of covers we’ve yet heard from the three-time Grammy Award winner, it's a remarkable recording in several respects. From Salvant's allegorical title track, which recounts the tale of one of the most compelling female characters in medieval French fiction, the mythical being Mélusine, who transforms into a dragon following the transgression of her husband who secretly gazes upon her half-snake, half-woman form; to the remarkable seventeenth century air de cour, ‘D’un feu secret’, by Michel Lambert (1610–1696), one of the most important French composers, singing teachers, violinists, and dancers of the age of Louis XIV, in which the customary basso continuo role transforms into squiggly analogue synth lines courtesy of Sullivan Fortner.

With the exception of the title track, the album is sung predominantly in French, although Salvant still manages to work in Haitian Kreyòl in the 12th century ‘Dame Iseut’ and Occitan in ‘Domna N'Almucs’ a two-stanza song which sees one female troubador, Iseut de Capio, asking another, Almuc de Castelnau, to forgive a deceitful lover and end his suffering. As well as brilliant versions of Charles Trenet's ‘La route enchantée’ (the title song from the 1938 film) and Veronique Sanson's heart-rending ‘Le temps est assassin’, Salvant's own ‘Fenestra’ shines yet more light on the Mélusine myth, whose narrative subtly echoes throughout the entire album. Beautifully recorded at The Bunker Studio and Brooklyn Recording, Brooklyn, Salvant continues to confound and delight at every turn.