So Calypso!

After the triumph of 2016's Far From Home, which went platinum in France and won her the Artist of the Year award at WOMEX, Calypso Rose makes a swift return with a set of well-chosen covers – half from her own illustrious back catalogue and half paying tribute to the artists who have influenced her music and her life. Her calypso and soca roots are much in evidence on ‘Voodoo Lay Loo’ and ‘Sweet Brown Sugar’ but this is a set that ranges promiscuously across a diversity of styles. A couple of songs are leftovers from the Far From Home sessions produced by Ivan Duran from Stonetree Records, including a rather fine cover of ‘Rivers of Babylon’ and a brilliant, bubbling, African-sounding rendition of Rose's own ‘Wah Fu Dance!’, on which she is joined by Manu Chao and Angélique Kidjo. The majority of tracks, however, were masterminded by the Swedish producer Gordon Cyrus, including a righteous roots-reggae take on Nat King Cole's ‘Calypso Blues’, the joyous, jump-up carnival groove of ‘Israel By Bus’ and the after-hours blues vibe of ‘How Long’. Thanks to being teamed with a series of great producers, Rose is, in her late 70s, making the best-sounding records of her long career.