IMAGINE, if you will, every member of a 12-piece orchestra and an electronic combo playing freestyle exercises at the same time, while a breathy female vocalist drops jazz-scat over the cacophony.

Congratulations, you’ve just nailed My Country, the opener to Merrill Garbus’s second album, and the style of a handful of the other nine tracks to boot. Later tracks are a little less deliberately-quirky, with standouts including Gangsta and Powa going so far as to border on straightforward, and every piece on the record showcases a strong vocal presence and a unique personality.

Elsewhere, Doorstep echoes cheery reggae-pop of the seventies and eighties, and You Yes You is mostly charming, and the intentional lack of conventional song structure throughout should probably be applauded. But ultimately, this is a love-or-hate album which won’t trouble the charts, but would doubtless be exceptionally-received by festival and live crowds through its energy and verve.