I was a huge fan of Emily Saunders' 2011 debut Cotton Skies, not least because it showcased an artist who was single-mindedly ploughing their own creative furrow. Now, four years on, the vocalist, composer and arranger is back with Outsiders Insiders. Compositionally, vocally, rhythmically, it fuses a fascinating cocktail of influences into something utterly original, and somehow makes an even more impressive statement than the debut. As heard in the coruscating album opener, ‘Residing’, Saunders – with her immediately identifiable, mellifluous sound – has the ability to deliver the trickiest of melodic lines with the agility of an instrumentalist. Channelling her love of trip hop, ‘You Caught Me’ highlights one of the singer's stylistic fingerprints, a dramatic glissando, which she uses to telling effect in several tracks. With its catchy keys vamp and wordless vocal hook, just one of several earworms that were replaying in my head long after the CD had finished, the title track sounds like it would be right at home on a film soundtrack. Elsewhere, the dreamy ‘Reflections’ and ‘You With Me’ display her fine balladeering side. Killing band, too.