“Let us advance our mortal bodies up / Where hearts and minds will go / Let’s walk, let’s roll.” So sings Madeleine Peyroux on Let’s Walk, her ninth and most fearless album to date. Powered by her honeyed, unmistakable voice, these ten original songs—co-written with longtime collaborator Jon Herington—blend jazz, folk, and chamber-pop with striking intimacy. Confessional and political, whimsical and yearning, Peyroux delivers them with the disarming grace of an artist at her creative peak.

For the ardently civic-minded Peyroux, Let’s Walk continues an ongoing dialogue with her audience and the wider world. “Art is engagement, community,” she says. “Music is the only way I’ve ever built community.” Written during the pandemic in what she calls “a shadow of reckoning,” the album captures reflection, resilience, and renewal. Producer Elliott Scheiner (Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles) urged her to record only originals—revealing Peyroux’s voice as both songwriter and storyteller of conscience.

The album opens with “Find True Love,” inspired by the George Floyd trial—an entreaty toward healing and hope. The title track, which came to Peyroux in a dream, celebrates mass mobilization for civil rights, enlivened by gospel textures and radiant harmonies from Catherine Russell, Cindy Mizelle, and Keith Fluitt. “How I Wish” mourns Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery while honoring the Black “Love Warriors” who shaped her: Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, and Marian Anderson.

She pays rollicking tribute to her mentor Dan William Fitzgerald (“Showman Dan”), the American bandleader who first taught her to sing on Paris streets. In the satirical bilingual tune “Et Puis,” she channels a privileged Parisian youth; in “Nothing Personal,” she faces sexual assault with searing honesty and resolve. Lighter turns arrive in the playful Caribbean-flavored “Me and the Mosquito” and rapid-fire closer “Take Care,” a spoken-word plea to stay grounded amid modern toxicity.

When Peyroux returns to the road, Let’s Walk will join her acclaimed interpretations of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits—songs that prove her enduring belief that music can transform and connect. With this record, Madeleine Peyroux walks forward in full command of her art, inviting us to do the same.