Album: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Soul Time (Daptone)

The latest by Brooklyn's queen of soul starts a little dispiritingly with two JBs-style funk numbers, while what you want from Shazza is anguish.

But by track three, "Longer and Stronger", everything is fine, her rasping voice sounds better than ever, and a superb soul sequence lasts right up to a dumb crowd-pleaser about not paying taxes. Things recover with the beautiful "Without Trace", and a closing version of Shuggie Otis's "Inspiration Information". Pretty good, then.