Although she’s been composing for years, the French singer-songwriter Cyrille Aimée refers to her latest album À Fleur de Peau as being her “real birth as a songwriter”.

Teaming up with New York multi-instrumentalist and producer, Jake Sherman, the album’s soulful melodies, heartfelt lyrics and ear-catching arrangements take flight with a rare blend of sincerity and allure.

From the warm embrace of ‘Beautiful Way’, a bilingual love letter to her adopted home of New Orleans, to the tender introspection of ‘Back to You,’ dripping with nu-soul vibes and poignant nostalgia, each track is a window into Aimée’s musical universe. And it’s not just about her originals, with Aimée effortlessly breathing new life into timeless classics like The Isley Brothers’ ‘For the Love of You’ and the enchanting chanson, ‘Ma Préférence’. In ‘Feel What I Feel,’ a tender waltz-ballad, Aimée’s voice dances above a tapestry of delicately plucked guitar, tinkling glockenspiel and dreamy strings, evoking a sense of pure emotion. And then there’s the infectious positivity of ‘Here’, adorned with a children’s choir, which invites us to bask in the beauty of the present moment. The mesmerising simplicity of ‘Historia De Amor’, a Spanish-language serenade celebrating the beauty of nature, brings this consummate collection to a close.