The latest releases reviewed

AL GREEN
Lay It Down
Blue Note
***
After buddying up with his old Hi! partner Willie Mitchell for his last two albums, Al Green has decided to bring in some young blood for this release. Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson from The Roots and prolific r'n'b writer/producer James Poyser are at the controls, while Corrine Bailey Rae, John Legend and Anthony Hamilton are on hand to help out the Reverend with the songs. It doesn't always work when old-timers team up with young guns to give their sound a modern twist. Here, though, Thompson and co are fully aware that it's Green who matters most. The result is a soul album that pays its respects to the past but shows that Green's extraordinary velvet voice also packs a contemporary wallop, propelling the likes of I'm Wild About Youor the Bailey Rae duet Take Your Timetoward the stars.  www.algreenmusic.com JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Take Your Time, I'm Wild About You

CLAIRE SPROULE
Shades of Night
CLS Music
***
For her second album, Donegal singer-songwriter Claire Sproule opts for a soulful, easy-listening mix of mostly original material (much of it co-written with keyboardist John McCollough). There's a distinctly early 1990s influence at play in Sproule's world: ponderous, sweet-toned reflections on life through an unapologetically soft-focus lens. Her voice is a confident, unforced amalgam of Lulu and Lisa Stansfield; while it's a lush thing of some beauty, what's missing is a sense of any identifiable point of departure. Awash in a swathe of strings, keyboards and genteel percussion, Sproule could just as easily be from anonymous east LA as from the sweeping landscape of the north-west. Still, maybe that's the trump card, her fast-track ticket to bagging that elusive radio airplay crucial to her future.  www.clairesproule.com SIOBHÁN LONG
Download tracks: High, Hello