You know you’ve really become a New Orleanian when you write a song called “Gator Bags a Beaver,” especially when that’s a love song. This is the second local release by European blues woman Frenchie Moe, who moved here after working with some of the R&B old guard from the U.K. And it shows she’s really internalized her hometown, with a distinctly funky approach to the blues.

What she brings to the mix is an unconventional singing voice that has a touch of cabaret about it. Rather than sounding out of place, her vocal approach makes the tracks more distinctive, especially since she favors songs with strong characters in them. Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes duets on “Backup Plan,” a cheating song with a twist (the two are thinking of cheating with each other). Local songwriter Serabee provides her with a chance to really emote on “Invisible Man,” and she throws a risqué slant where you’d least expect one, on a version of Bobby Rush’s “Chicken Heads” (here as “Crawfish Heads.”)

Working with a couple of different rhythm sections and keyboardist Bruce Eisensohn, she keeps the disc live-sounding, and her guitar work is invariably tight and funky. You can hear the influence of Walter “Wolfman” Washington, one of her local mentors, and I would guess she’s heard Mem Shannon as well. The instrumental “Furry Slippers” wraps those and a few other influences into something solidly her own. If I heard this coming out from a club on Frenchmen Street, I’d certainly go inside and check it out.