Joan Wasser’s sixth solo album under the Joan As Police Woman moniker (not counting 2016’s Let It Be You, a collaboration with Benjamin Lazar Davis) mixes the soul grooves of 2014’s superb The Classic with the introspective soul-searching of her earlier releases. There’s none of the brass-fuelled dramatics that made The Classic so upbeat and airy, but neither is it mired in indie bedsit melancholy. Instead, we have the quietly arresting lead single ‘Warning Bell’; breathy ballad ‘Valid Jagger’; and the sultry swing of ‘Talk About It Later’: this album is as warm and welcoming as a whiskey cocktail on a cold winter night. Delicious opener ‘Wonderful’ unfolds ever so slowly, as Wasser purrs, “I’ve been stealing my tears, pouring buckets out my window/ Wondering even if the sky is naked/ Will I need to fight to make it wonderful?”. The music, meanwhile, is the sonic equivalent of being enveloped in clouds of warm cotton wool. Wasser sometimes finds her muse in unusual places: as the title indicates, ‘Steed (For Jean Genet)’ is dedicated to the titular French writer and political activist. Elsewhere, ‘Tell Me’ proves she has a real ear for a catchy hook; the staccato beats and funky bass of ‘The Silence’ evoke TuneYards at their most accessible; and the distorted drone of the closing ‘I Don’t Mind’ finds the singer embracing life (“It’s a bowl of cherries, it’s a bowl of hand grenades/ Come on, uncover the windows, face the light”). Damned Devotion is not an immediate album: the stately pace may prove too much for some listeners. That would be a real shame – it’s a record that really rewards closer attention. Out February 9

Rating: 7/10