Kings Cross vinyl

Since emerging in the late 1990s, Swedish singer/songwriter Jay-Jay Johanson has carved a niche as a purveyor of beguiling, jazzy and occasionally surprisingly dark music. "Kings Cross", his 14th studio set, is an altogether warmer and more softly spun affair. Of course, his distinctively low key but emotion-rich vocal delivery remains the same, it's just the music beneath that has been given a bit of a remix. You'll find a gaggle of lusciously orchestrated, Sebastien Tellier style cuts, a handful of dusty downtempo groovers, some gentle folk-rock songs and even a small selection of nu-jazz numbers. The result is an album whose slow motion ethos and subtle beauty is surprisingly alluring.