Following 2017’s heartfelt dedication to his lifelong idol, Nat King Cole & Me, this sixth studio album marks a welcome return to original songwriting for Gregory Porter. Produced by Troy Miller, All Rise brings together 15 songs of love, hope and connection that range from the autobiographical ‘Dad Gone Thing’ about Porter’s absent father (“He didn’t teach me a dad gone thing, but how to sing”), and the surging uplift of ‘Revival’, to the understated ballad ‘If Love Is Overrated’, which finds Porter at his most conversational, and the joyous moto perpetuo of the album’s closing track, the gospel-infused ‘Thank You’, which features pianist Chip Crawford laying down a supremely tasty piano vamp. The bass and rimshot-driven groove of ‘Everything You Touch Is Gold’ provides a rare outing for the Porter falsetto, and he also shows himself to be a dab hand with the jazz waltz courtesy of the charming ‘Merry Go Round’. The textural palette is pleasingly varied throughout, with a horn section, 10-strong choir plus the London Symphony Orchestra strings all being judiciously brought into play. Whether in the slow burn of ‘You Can Join My Band’ or the soulful melodicism of ‘Real Truth’, Porter is in imperious form throughout.