He’s always been a Catholic, but the pandemic has put Harry Connick, Jr in touch with his faith in a new way

Like everyone else on the planet, Harry Connick, Jr had plans for 2020: a major US tour to promote his Cole Porter tribute album True Love. But in the words of “Anything Goes”, the world went mad, the tour was cancelled, and Connick stayed at home in Connecticut. He found himself alone, he says, surrounded by his musical instruments and his sound gear.

Only he wasn’t alone: as well as his family (wife Jill Goodacre and three daughters aged 24, 23 and 18), Connick, 53, had another companion: his Catholic faith. And that’s what he’s drawn on to inspire his new album, out this month: it’s called Alone With My Faith and it features old favourites (“there’ll be plenty you know,” he assures me on our Zoom call), as well as new material. Which means tracks like “Be Not Afraid”, “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art” brush up against the title track (“Alone with my faith / what I know is true / what gives me reassurance / when I don’t know what to do”) and “Look Who I Found” (“Sometimes it’s really hard to find what you’re looking for …”).