Symphonica tour and flawlessly produced by Michael and the late Phil Ramone. It features reworkings of Michael’s past hits and covers but five of these, including the US Depression-era standard Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?, were tackled on his 1999 album, Songs From The Last Century. The aim of the game seems to be to remind us that, after a few troubled years, the now clean Michael is also a serious (and seriously talented) artist. While his crooning voice undeniably sounds better than ever on these lush arrangements, it’s the less obvious covers, such as an appropriately delicate take on Terence Trent D’Arby’s beautifully sad Let Her Down Easy, that are worth listening to here. He knowingly jokes ‘it’s too much to expect a white man to do it like Nina [Simone]’ on Feeling Good – but, really, when a song has been both relentlessly covered and so absolutely claimed by someone else, another version (however competent) has no thrill unless it offers a total reinvention.