Lisa Stansfield - Seven

A decade after her last LP and (gulp) a quarter of a century since world-beating hit ‘All Around The World’, one of the UK’s finest ever female voices is back – with an album that proves she is still the diva’s diva.

Opener ‘Can’t Dance’ is a brassy, sassy, funk-soul workout with a disco beat that makes for the perfect floor-filler. Gorgeously infectious, ‘So Be It’ and the syncopated ‘Picket Fence’ are Dusty in Memphis style southern soul, while the jazzy, big-band arrangement on ‘Why’ make it as a distant cousin of Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’. Elsewhere, ‘Stupid Heart’ is a tour-de-force on which she reaches dizzy heights; the mid-tempo ‘The Crown’ boasts a more contemporary texture; and current single ‘Carry On’ blends Philly-soul with a hint Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’. She will shortly star in the hotly-anticipated Northern Soul movie, alongside Steve Coogan. For now this will do!