Album: Gregory Porter, Liquid Spirit (Blue Note)

The soulful vocalist follows his two excellent indie albums with a major-label debut that contains few surprises yet deepens the story so far.

If you can't take the odd dab of slush then Porter is unlikely to appeal, but while "Hey Laura" and "Brown Grass" are gorgeous ballads that follow the elegant, unhurried line of "Real Good Hands", the lyrics of "Wolfcry" can seem corny. Happily, good sentimentality far outweighs the bad. There's swingers, too.