Kono Michi – One More Day

Having made the transition from globally-recognised classical violinist to singer-songwriter, Brooklyn's Kono Michi evinces a healthy lack of interest in generic classifications or dogmatic notions of a high/low culture divide. Her current output, for the most part, manages to avoid the blandness which blights the work of many crossover artists. The music on this EP is understated but assured, deploying strings, guitar and a range of percussion, and dipping into influences ranging from Nina Nastasia's chamber-folk to the Dirty Three.

The closeness and clarity of the production leaves these songs exposed: when they work, that is a virtue, particularly on the lurching, woozy closer When I Don't Come Back. Things falter at other points, as on In a Lake, which introduces drum loops that take us uncomfortably close to coffee-table trip-hop territory. At all times, though, Michi demonstrates an intuitive musicality that enables her to move across cultural boundaries with ease.