Music that you can groove to – even when you play it quiet. There is something special about this cabaret mix of exquisitely constructed jazz excursions with intevening spoken or mixed spoken/singing. The album starts with songs interwoven with spoken word jazz numbers, with an excellent, musically bright cover of Hendrix classic Long Hot Summer Night.

Then the laconic Wheelspin takes us down the North Island in a speeding truck a cautionary tale in mixed spoken phrases and song.

It introduces the locus of this album but does not prepare you for the spiritual turn a stunning turn with world music number Purify that extends Hunter’s musical expression. Superb. Followed by the very moving acoustic soul minimalism of Compromise. Then back to the groove with Little by Little that mixes song and spoken word with syncopated instrumental percussion. Proximity gives a return to jazz coolness. Can You Read The Future is theatrical, loaded with pirate puns and a dash of humour and some interesting instrumentation followed by the sparse soundscape and lavish delivery of a forbidden spoken word piece, Vanilla Wednesday, that falls into a sudden silence.

The strengths of this album are its musical inventiveness strictly and perfect played and vocals which explore new places for Hunter. It’s musical colour and inventiveness take turns. The strength here is the playing, its finely played but some of the most exacting and talented Auckland Musicians. Karen is joined by Ron Samsom, Aaaron Coddell, Kevin Field, Roger Manins, Kingsley Melhuish, Oliver Emmit, Jess Curtis, Juliex Taylor-Reid and Chris Woods.