7. Nina SimonePastel Blues

Brilliant album. A more stripped-back instrumentation, giving way to more space, which I prefer over her more orchestral albums. This blend of jazz, blues, traditional and classical music belongs so much to her but maybe even more importantly, to me, are these deeply hypnotic dynamics and dramatic crescendos, like on ‘Sinnerman’ and ‘Be My Husband’. Her voice sounds insane in many places, otherworldly, low and chilling. I am forgetting this album also contains the track ‘Strange Fruit’, in a brilliant version. This should be reason enough.