The Pursuit

Jamie Cullum is an artist deserving of superlatives but more complex than a simple set of adjectives can depict. If you know him as "just" a jazz musician or from his strikingly creative way with cover versions you're just familiar with the tip of the iceberg.

'The Pursuit', his fifth album and first new solo record in four years, is summed up by its title, taken from Nancy Mitford's classic novel, The Pursuit Of Love. "In life, we pursue everything. Life is one long pursuit," says Jamie and the album is just such a pursuit – a combination of his eclectic music tastes and enduring love of Jazz and its timeless standards.

It is a record that mixes his heritage with a thrilling selection of modern influences. Describing its sound he moves from Cole Porter to Rihanna to Aphex Twin in the same sentence. Jamie is a performer capable of delivering constant surprises with a talent elastic enough to evince a four-to-the-floor acoustic Ibiza song on the same record as a lushly recorded Jazz standard.