Opening with two minutes of a capella from one of Motown’s most underrated singers, Valerie Simpson’s 1971 debut album is an unacknowledged jewel in Motown’s seventies catalogue. Mostly wonderfully crafted Ashford & Simpson songs along with a simply fire version of the Beatles’ We Can Work It Out and a moving take on the gospel song There Is A God, Exposed is simply a superb soul album. Simpson effortlessly delivers joy, pain, elation, heartbreak and more, all perfectly expressed through her voice and piano playing with premier members of the Funk Brothers band ably assisting. Pure, deep soul.