If traditional jazz “scat” singing is all hard-edged consonants, Portuguese singer Sara Serpa’s sound is the opposite: pure, honey-toned vowels, child-like and innocent. Even when the Lisbon-born New Yorker sings words (here culled mostly from Portuguese poetry), the words remain opaque to Anglophone listeners.

What's left is dreamy, soft-hued balm for the ears, meticulously crafted with her partner, guitarist Andre Matos, with vocal overdubs, layers of instruments, and fleeting guest appearances from drummer Billy Mintz and keyboardist Pete Rende. And don't let the apparent innocence fool you.

Serpa and Matos are sophisticated musicians, concocting a genre all their own, one that borrows from many – jazz, pop, Brazil and elsewhere – but is beholden to none. sunnysiderecords.com