You don’t get many double bassists / vocalists in the world of indie, so Nat Baldwin very much stands out in a crowd of one – and that’s not just because of the “hello there” naked torso that adorns the cover of new record People Changes. Baldwin’s day job is playing bass in the delightful art-poppers Dirty Projectors. But aside from that he’s also studied under jazz legend Anthony Braxton, and in his downtime from his bandwork and recording with the likes of Department of Eagles and Vampire Weekend, he’s released a handful of interesting and inventive solo records.

This time around Baldwin wrote the songs that make up People Changes over a period of three years during trips to a remote cabin in Maine, and while this might conjour images of Justin Vernon’s debut as Bon Iver – and the record does have the same hermetically sealed feel as For Emma, Forever Ago - there’s still a genuine warmth to be found in the various notes Baldwin teases from his double bass, and that’s before we even reach his strikingly lovely falsetto. It’s a voice that bears comparison with Dave Longstreth – his leader in Dirty Projectors – but without the same number of leaps of faith that voice takes. While Baldwin stabs his bow across the strings of his bass, his voice flutters across the register adding a contrast that, rather than jarring, adds a balance to the tone of the record.

Beginning with a cover of legendary cellist/all-round genius Arthur Russell’s ‘A Little Lost’ is a brave start to any record, and while it doesn’t match the brilliance of the original (or Jens Lekman’s beautiful version) it does have a great thrust and some jazzy flourishes that take it away from Russell’s pop approach to the song. This sets the frame for the rest of the album, as Baldwin opens his songs out and lets them breathe, yet an element of introspection remains. Take for example ‘Weights’, a song of contrabass intensity backed with flurries of woodwind and Baldwin’s floating voice – captured live on this very website recently – that manages to combine, through the highs and lows of the voice and bass, the openness of free improv with the lyrics and vocals of the singer-songwriter, and it’s quite lovely. The same applies to closer ‘Let My Spirit Rise’, which in spite of its free arrangement is every bit the conventional indie lovesong in its execution. Baldwin sings “kiss me once for yourself / kiss me once for me / kiss me once for everything…we can never know the wide and open sky” while in the background the stormy deep bass battles with soaring strings for supremacy.

Things don’t always work on People Changes as the the cacophonous free-jazz of ‘What Is There’ testifies to, and ‘The Real Fakes’ meanders a bit too long in search of an anchor, but surrounding them is the gentle beauty of ‘The Same Thing’ and the ambitious and thrilling ‘Lifted‘, which disrupts Baldwin’s soothing voice with stabs of elemental trumpet and crackling electric guitar.

You might imagine that an album which wears its improv and jazz influences proudly could be a rather pretentious listen; sure, it’s a challenging record but Nat Baldwin has approached People Changes with such freedom and warmth, and imbued the songs with a welcoming personality, that it’s a joy to listen to at times.