Jamie Woon's debut will keep you coming back for more

Mirrorwriting
Interscope
***

Twenty-eight-year-old Jamie Woon is the son of Celtic folk singer Mae McKenna, but that's not something you'd intuit from the outer London-based singer's atmospheric, R&B-based debut.

Openers Night Air and Street sound distinctly nocturnal and meditative in mood, their calming, electronic grooves leaving plenty of room for Woon's soulful, quietly aching vocals. It's intoxicating if slightly claustrophobic stuff, the image evoking that of someone contemplating a flawed amour during a solo motorway drive at 3am.

While Woon favours wet smudges of reverb over the bone-dry snap of albums such as D'Angelo's 2000 masterpiece Voodoo, he does seem to share that US singer's liking for structures stripped to little more than stacked vocal harmonies and the snap and pop of percussion. Standout track Shoulda comes on like a less intense Justin Timberlake, although its soft-focus keyboard arpeggios, strong chorus and delicate brush strokes of colour seemingly target some hitherto undiscovered twilight zone of commercial radio.

Woon says he called his debut Mirrorwriting "because it's all inward-looking stuff", and he is a little guilty of that solipsism that the best singer-songwriters quickly learn to jettison. The deftly programmed arrangements on Mirrorwriting have a welcome subtlety and economy, though, and songs such as Spiral, with its spectral Fender Rhodes piano, are quirky and mysterious enough to keep you coming back for more.

Surianah's top five jazz artists

Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.

Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.

Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.

Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.

Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.

JAPAN SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa

Turkish Ladies

Various artists, Sony Music Turkey

Teaching your child to save

Pre-school (three - five years)

You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.

Early childhood (six - eight years)

Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.

Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)

Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.

Young teens (12 - 14 years)

Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.

Teenage (15 - 18 years)

Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.

Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)

Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.

* JP Morgan Private Bank

While you're here

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The bio

Academics: Phd in strategic management in University of Wales

Number one caps: His best-seller caps are in shades of grey, blue, black and yellow

Reading: Is immersed in books on colours to understand more about the usage of different shades

Sport: Started playing polo two years ago. Helps him relax, plus he enjoys the speed and focus

Cars: Loves exotic cars and currently drives a Bentley Bentayga

Holiday: Favourite travel destinations are London and St Tropez

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

The Freedom Artist

By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)

South Africa v India schedule

Tests: 1st Test Jan 5-9, Cape Town; 2nd Test Jan 13-17, Centurion; 3rd Test Jan 24-28, Johannesburg

ODIs: 1st ODI Feb 1, Durban; 2nd ODI Feb 4, Centurion; 3rd ODI Feb 7, Cape Town; 4th ODI Feb 10, Johannesburg; 5th ODI Feb 13, Port Elizabeth; 6th ODI Feb 16, Centurion

T20Is: 1st T20I Feb 18, Johannesburg; 2nd T20I Feb 21, Centurion; 3rd T20I Feb 24, Cape Town