Conceived as an experiment to kick-start creativity, Exposure is pleasingly free of novelty value. Written, performed, recorded and mixed in 77 hours while live streamed on Facebook, the music stands up as a coherent piece of work, in which Spalding's melodic strength is consistent and the no-frills production actually a far cry from the somewhat overly dense predecessor Emily's D + Evolution. Put simply, Spalding has pulled out the stops with regard to her composing, straddling the line between jazz, soul and pop, while keeping the group identity strong. It is on the downtempo material that the assembled players gel most convincingly, no more so than on ‘Coming To Life’, the piece on which vocalist Hathaway appears. Primarily known as a stellar contemporary R&B and soul singer, Hathaway has a voice of immense potency and range, and her wordless, ethereal melodies, floating and swirling gracefully over the harmonic framework of the song, are a thing of beauty. There is a bonus disc, Undeveloped, of material drawn from the practice sessions that took place in the run-up to Exposure, which is largely stripped down to voice and bass, providing a good insight into the creative foundation that Spalding built upon.