Border Crossing, the fourth record from South Africa’s Laurie Levine, is a revelation of what can happen when comfort zones are jettisoned, old habits sent packing and boundaries trampled on. Recorded during the first half of 2013 at Johannesburg’s Stoep Studio, the 11-track record displays Levine’s ongoing love affair with the folk and country that has driven her previous three albums - Unspoken (2007), Living Room (2009), and Six Winters (2011). But, true to its title, Border Crossing also goes on an adventure in search of other sounds that can serve Levine’s often-extraordinary tales of emotional dislocation, leaving and homecoming, and, mostly, love. What turns up in this pursuit is soul. Lashings of it in fact, with “Last One Standing” swaying to the sounds of Stax-era female backing vocals and a plump horn section (courtesy of Boykey Sidley and Bez Roberts) - and “Every Man” coming on like a sonic throwback that’s simultaneously h...