Alela Diane: Alela Diane & Wild Divine

(Rough Trade)

Something of a family affair this for Alela Diane’s third album, with husband Tom Bevitori and daddy Tom Menig helping out on, respectively, co-writing and guitar duties. In this patchy yet occasionally uplifting collection, a downbeat Joni Mitchell vibe permeates proceedings, but the shackles are flung off by showing how much fun she can have by rocking out a bit more, especially on the Ron Sexsmith-y ‘Long Way Down’. Even if, like me, you don’t fully trust people with two forenames, you should cast those prejudices aside and give Miss Diane a blast.