Originality being one of the holy grails of jazz, this album, and particularly the work of its remarkable vocalist Lauren Kinsella, are required listening. What this cool Dublin diva does at the microphone – a pliable miasma of sighs, gasps and reshaped vowels and consonants – is something mere words cannot adequately describe, but it’s weird and it’s wonderful.

Of course she does not have the free-form vocal market all to herself. One thinks of Sweden’s Josefine Cronholm and her whispered inventions, but La Kinsella has a complete system of sounds and ideas working for her. And its brilliance lies in the way she blends it with the instruments around her, particularly O’Hara’s. You hear some of that on this suite of seven quirky originals, each full of unexpected twists and turns. She composed all but one of them, but to get the full benefit of her artistry you should hear her live. This album was cut in the early days of the group, and I can vouch for the fact that she’s moved way higher up the mountain since then.