Nneka, a Nigerian singer-songwriter based in Germany, made No Longer at Ease, her second album, in Hamburg with a handful of local producers. It was first released in 2008 and a single, Heartbeat, slipped into the UK top 20 last autumn, its slow emergence being encouraging confirmation that there is more than one route into the charts.

When Nneka played a couple of live gigs in London, she impressed with a beguiling combination of confidence and humility, clarifying the themes of songs whose meaning can sometimes get lost amid the album's impeccable beats. On Halfcast, she explores her own identity as an African in Europe, recalling that when she was "sent back to Africa on a plane, I was neglected, and decided to accept the inescapable death of the white me/Half white, half black, for fuck's sake, I'm Nigerian/ [I] love my ethnicity, so just let me be".

After a sequence of tracks that hint at first one idiom and then another, Nneka finally finds her own unique musical field on Kangpe, her character emerging on the rousing chorus, an exhortation to feel strong. She has convincingly taken her own advice, and given herself a difficult challenge if she hopes to better this album.