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Cécile McLorin Salvant is one of the world’s great jazz singers. I’ve seen her live – she is brilliant – and followed her records down the years. While I recognise the daring quality of Oh Snap and its desire to carve out a new style it doesn’t really hang together enough overall so snack on some of the songs individually rather than consume it all. Otherwise you might be rather confused.

But patience dear heart It’s more an experiment with avant pop on one level. But there are indications of her “real” terrain on ‘Anything But Now.’

Sprawling, nevertheless! The title track is like a Madonna song circa Ray of Light. And the high energy ‘A Little Bit More’ with its autotune is like something you’d dance to at some cheesy disco. A world away from her best album to date which is 2018’s The Window Oh Snap, you feel a self effacing playfulness even in the titling, works within its own frankly very spread out limits and there’s mischief in the autotune effects. I love the Commodores but the version of ‘Brick House’ (a song very much of its time – what was it about the 1970s?) seems like a jeu d’esprit and isn’t substantial. It’s pretty brief – I guess there’s a certain amount of irony involved in both its strip away the groove inclusion and brevity.

With the singer on the album are Sullivan Fortner, the French American’s duo partner on The Window (whose recent Southern Nights is to me a better record than Oh, Snap because it is more focused), Yasushi Nakamura, Kyle Poole, June McDoom and Kate Davis.

Originally recorded alone, at home, according to issuing label Nonesuch, never intending to be released – maybe only some of these should have been – the singer experimented with digital tools like GarageBand, Logic, AutoTune and Midi plugins. That’s the main departure. Think of this album as about the process rather than the outcome. It seems like the beginning of a journey rather than the end.

‘Expanse’ – an instant oeuvre classic of the singer’s: Cécile McLorin Salvant with pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Kyle Poole.

Best I can say about it is there are a few decent songs but it’s pretty forgettable apart from ‘Expanse’ which is beautiful. When you hear it you will change your whole attitude to the album and see it through another lens. A new cryptic chapter begins. Whether it proves a blip or a restart that blossoms into a whole new inspiring creative phase the future only knows.