JONI MITCHELL: Blue (Reprise)
My mum used to sing me to sleep with Mitchell’s Circle Game song and this album was probably the start of my interest in music.
Her voice is so powerful at every register. I picked up from her how to put every note I can get to in my songs.
DR OCTAGON: The Return Of (Buttercuts)
Bizarrely, because it’s not very acoustic, this is the album I listen to most.
It’s a rap album by Kool Keith. The opening is incredibly strange but it’s astonishing.
Perfect World is my favourite track and I use it to test the quality of speakers.
CAMILLE: Le Fil (Because)
I like listening to stuff in other languages because my brain doesn’t have to analyse the lyrics, which I usually do as a pastime.
This has the same humming note running through it and it’s beautiful.
I love a body of work that has been put together to tell the artist’s story for a period of time. I try to do that myself.
ANDERSON .PAAK: Malibu (Steel Wool)
Awesome. It cruises so you can listen from start to finish with ease.
I’ve used it to accompany cooking lately. It definitely helps!
The rhythms are clever, it’s groovy and his voice is incredible.
JAMES TAYLOR: Hourglass (Sony)
This was my favourite album but I lost it and forgot the name.
I actually sang it into the Shazam website to see if I could find it.
I was asleep in the back of a van going across Germany and someone played it so I was able to buy it again.
It’s super-mellow. I could listen to his voice all day.
ERIC ROCHE: With These Hands (Guitar Label)
He taught me to play guitar and I heard bits while he was writing it so it means a huge amount to me.
He’s an incredible player, an experimental acoustic guitarist, and this is half jazz and half folk.