Egyptian-British vocalist Natacha Atlas made her mark as the belly-dancing frontwoman of London collective Transglobal Underground nearly 30 years ago, and released her solo debut Diaspora in 1995. And while her singular blend of western and Arabic vocal traditions gave her edge, her star has dimmed over the ensuing two decades, with household name status in France and a run of B-movie soundtracks and MOR collaborations keeping her buoyant. But recent work, notably 2015's Ibrahim Maalouf-produced Myriad Road, have seen her inch closer to jazz and rediscover her mojo in the process. Now comes her 11th album, Strange Days, a superbly recorded set that might just be the best thing Atlas has ever done. Ten tracks sung in English and Arabic, often on the same track, are deftly accompanied by a cast including violinist and regular collaborator Samy Bishai, whose Middle-Eastern stylings lend poignancy and power to the overarching dystopian theme. Underrated UK pianist Alcyona Mick simmers and gleams on the seven-and-a-half-minute long ‘All the Madness’; double-bassist Andy Hamill is nuanced, sonorous and fittingly sinuous throughout. Soul diva turned world adventurer Joss Stone is here, lending her formidable pipes to the horn-heavy, occasionally syrupy ‘Words of A King’. So too is Atlas's longtime party piece, ‘It's A Man's World’, spacious, string-laden and jazzed-up to the nines.