Album: Jill Scott, The Original Jill Scott from the Vault Vol 1

The first fruit of Hidden Beach's settlement, following their lawsuit occasioned by Jill Scott's move to Warner Bros, is far better than most contractual fulfilment albums – possibly due to Scott's involvement in its compilation.

Indeed, it's rather better than her current "official" album The Light of the Sun, with only the lacklustre "Wondering Why?" sounding like a rumination to which instrumental parts had accidentally adhered. Elsewhere, there are spry shuffling grooves ("I Don't Know"), twitchy two-steppers ("Love to Love") and a more purposive tone overall. And in the languorous, just-roused warmth of "Wake Up Baby", a neat conceit contrasting a suitor's late-night booty call with her grandma's wake-up call: "If he waits outside in his car, he ain't seeing you like the jewel you are".

DOWNLOAD THIS I Don't Know; Love to Love; Wake Up Baby; Lovely Day