Down on Me Kimberly Knight

Vocalist Jacqui Dankworth is as radiant as ever on As the Sun Shines Down on Me, an album of recorded in 2002 and 2003 but seeing American release in 2004 through Candid Records. Joined by virtuosic guitarist Mike Outram, her bassist brother Alec Dankworth, and percussionist Roy Dodds, Dankworth interprets 15 old faves, keeping the mood light and tasteful throughout. Opening with a reading of "Blue Moon" could be a risk – it's a well-known, perhaps even overplayed song. But the version here is so perfectly rendered, so gentle from the folky guitar line through the light brush work, that the song is reborn.

Pop act Secret Weapons consists of Danny Rocco and Gerry Lange. The duo generated interest in and around their native New York with live performances, while uploads to their SoundCloud page spread them farther. They signed to Epic, which just happened to be Rocco's employer; he worked in the major-label's legal department. In October 2015, after Rocco had resigned from his day job, Secret Weapons debuted with the assured and rousing single "Something New." The next month, they performed on NBC's Today they were tapped by radio personality Elvis Duran as the morning program's artist of the month and toured as the opening act for Fun.'s Nate Ruess. In the summer of 2017, Secret Weapons delivered their debut LP, As the setting sun comes crashing down on me.