A DOS

The joyously uncategorisable Catalan singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Lau Noah criss-crossed Europe and the US for more than a year to record this collection of original duets in London, Barcelona, Madrid, Los Angeles and, finally, back in her long-time adopted home of New York City, collaborating with the likes of Chris Thile, Jacob Collier, Silvia Pérez Cruz, Jorge Drexler, Shai Maestro, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Gaby Moreno, Salvador Sobral and Angeles Toledano along the way. As can happen with projects like this, though, the resulting album, despite some memorable moments such as the opening duet ‘Aunque Suene Bonito’ with the Guatemalan singer Gaby Moreno and ‘Lesser Men Would Call It Love’, the single with multiple Grammy Award-winning Punch Brother Chris Thile, feels a little unfocused. But on the closing track ‘Ode to Darkness’, the sole track credited to Lau alone and apparently recorded live in concert (with a miraculously tuneful audience encouraged to join in the chorus), her widely-admired skill and winning personality really shine.