Languorous, sensual, with a pure, clear tone and perfect phrasing, Doris Day’s voice is timelessly beguiling on a charming new collection of previously unreleased recordings.

A superstar of the post war decades, Day is probably mainly known to contemporary audiences as an icon of old fashioned celluloid chastity. But before Hollywood discovered Doris Von Kappelhof, she was already a musical star, the demob sweetheart whose million selling 1944 recording of Sentimental Journey became the unofficial anthem for America’s returning World War II veterans.

’My Heart’ is a reminder of what a strong and distinctive vocalist Day always was, and how much feminine allure she could breathe into the most buttoned-up material, making a mockery of her virginal reputation. Not that she is beyond mocking it herself. On the title track, she fantasises about getting a “kitchen with a microwave / think of all the time we’d save / time we’d spend just making love.” Day drags out the word “love” with a sensual relish that should vanquish all thoughts of her closet romances with Rock Hudson. She’s at it again on a graceful rendering of The Beach Boys ’Disney Girls’, twisting the vocal to the first person: “Fantasy worlds and Disney girls, we’re coming back.” On this evidence, she’s not wrong.

• Neil McCormick