Five decades after she became a ’60s icon with the timeless pop hits “The First Cut Is The Deepest” and “Angel Of The Morning” on Rolling Stones manager Andrew Oldham’s ultra-hip Immediate label, soul singer P.P. Arnold returns with a double-album of stunning new material featuring contributions from, among others, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Cradock, The Specials and P.P’s songwriter son, Kodzo.

Titled The New Adventures Of… P.P. Arnold, the album crowns an extraordinary career that has seen the singer back Ike & Tina Turner as one of The Ikettes, record with Mick Jagger, the Small Faces, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Barry Gibb and Primal Scream, and provide her distinctive backing vocals for Billy Ocean, Peter Gabriel, the KLF, Paul Weller and, most recently, Roger Waters. The New Adventures Of P.P. Arnold was recorded and produced by life-long P.P. enthusiast, OCS star and Paul Weller band guitarist Steve Cradock at his Kundalini Studio in Devon, and follows on – after a 51-year gap – from the singer’s two legendary solo albums on Immediate Records, The First Lady Of Immediate(1967) and Kafunta (1968), as well as a more recent compilation of previously unreleased material from the late ’60s and ’70s, The Turning Tide (2017).

The beginnings of the album – spanning classic orchestral soul (“Baby Blue,” “Finally Found My Way Back Home”), sunshine pop (“The Magic Hour”), house music (“Hold On To Your Dreams”), a spine-chilling gospel elegy inspired by her daughter’s death (“I’ll Always Remember You”), two Paul Weller originals (“When I Was Part Of Your Picture,” “Shoot The Dove”) and an epic, edgy 10-minute reading of Bob Dylan’s poem “The Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie” – can be traced back 25 years to 1994.

“I’ve been a fan of PP ever since hearing ‘The First Cut’, and then ‘Tin Soldier’. Her voice is still as great as it was when she was 18/19 years old!” exclaims Weller. “Steve Cradock has tried to keep something of the early Immediate Records sound on this new record, whilst still sounding fresh, and it is for me one of the finest in her collection.”