OUT OF THIS WORLD

Nadia Reid is not just one of our best, she’s one of the best.

We don’t deserve Nadia Reid. She’s not just one of our best, she’s one of the best.

Out of My Province isa classily curated songbook, at once world-weary and wide-eyed with excitement.

It feels like Reid is opening herself up to emotional opportunity and new love with a strong, sensible clutch of cynicism in her back pocket.

The Port Chalmers local mostly recorded in Richmond, Virginia, and travel is a continous theme, as she casually references Italy, Spain or Canada. The latter gets its own song, Oh Canada, an upbeat tune showcasing Reid’s strongest skills – her unshakeable sense of melody and how she seems to toy with every note, unexpected phrasing and her concise, exacting poetry.

The international success of her last album took her around the world and garnered spectacular reviews. The unanimous love obviously hit home for Reid, every note of Out of My Province feels confident, like it all poured out in one go. She’s not just hitting her stride, she’s striding anywhere she pleases.

‘‘I feel free for the first time; I feel lonely, but not for the last time,’’ she sweetly croons on Other Side Of The Wheel, which was an early standout track, but my favourites keep changing.

At the moment, I can’t go past Get the Devil Out, which closes the album. A quiet statement of self-acceptance, personal growth and understanding, it wraps the album in a peaceful, romantic, hopeful place. When she sings, ‘‘I am only one woman; you are only one man’’ and those strings kick in for the first time, she had me on my knees lifting my skinny fists like antennas to heaven.

For 20 years, Canadian Dan Snaith has been making joyous dance music under the moniker, Caribou. He’s not prolific but consistently excellent. Five years ago, he gave us Can’t Do Without You and, five years before that, you may remember Odessa ,abig hit from his 2010 album Swim.

Always a step or two ahead of the curve, his new and perfectly formed album, Suddenly ,is classic Caribou, fresh and inspired.

He’s methodical and meticulous, with a gift for layering sounds on top of one another, building intensity and letting the beat drop. He’s singing more than ever, his fragile gentle falsetto hesitantly decorating his confident dancefloor jams.

Sample heavy, with diverse sounds, it’s hard to imagine anyone disliking this album.