You can’t ignore the stats. With almost 20 national and international jazz awards and prizes to his name in the past 10 years and over 50 million plays of his music on the streaming service Spotify, Joel Lyssarides gets both the critical and the popular vote. And the Stockholm-born rising piano star is only turning 30 this year!

His third album should up his numbers considerably, and perhaps spread word of his maturing talent a little further. Knowing that Lyssarides composed the cuts on Stay Now in a remote house in a forest and at night where possible will give you a sense of the intimate, introspective quality of the work – ‘As Night Let Down Its Curtain’, ‘Gowns of Dark’ and ‘Chimera’ are among the compositions’ titles. It should be added any romantic-gothic leanings are carefully tempered and held in check by a classical-pop restraint and a keen instinct for a bit of an earworm.

There’s nice, precisely honed interplay with trio collaborators Niklas Fernqvist (bass) and Rasmus Blixt (drums). Stream ‘Cloudberry Hill’, add to the stats and decide for yourself.