Late-September is to see the release of Elizabeth Shepherd’s new album The Signal on which the Canadian singer/pianist-songwriter collaborates with guitarist Lionel Loueke. Sometimes compared to Esperanza Spalding and Gretchen Parlato, Shepherd’s experimental pop-jazz soulful sound first surfaced around 2006 when her debut album Start To Move fixed itself firmly on perennial sonic soothsayer Gilles Peterson’s radar. Her last album Rewind released in 2012 shone the spotlight on Shepherd's arranging ability, and more recently Shepherd has been presenting her Mixtape Sessions in Toronto during which she invites a different musical guest for each session to dig deep into favourite tapes that have stayed with Shepherd and her collaborators over the years, relaying their own versions of selections from the tapes. The Signal’s title track is an evocative duet based around the premise of a dreamy “don't you love those stories about people who arrange to meet in five years time somewhere, just meet and then decide what happens?” Blue Note artist Loueke, whose last album was the superb Heritage back in 2012, features on the tracks ‘Willow’, and the bass-led ‘This.’ 
Elizabeth Shepherd, above