“Fortune Teller,” the third track from Monroe, Louisiana singer/songwriter Hope Waits’ self-titled debut, tells the tale of going to a palm and/or tarot card reader in Jackson Square for advice and solace. The music, a somber acoustic guitar, swampy accordion and organ, and a wide-open drumbeat, gives a sonic vignette of a hazy, lonely night in the French Quarter.

New Orleans is central to the record. Although Waits rarely references the Crescent City in her lyrics, she weaves the genres that color the city’s musical landscape into the record. Local purists may sneer at this Monroe native who lives and records in Hollywood and her attempts to put out a “New Orleans” record, but Waits silences haters as both she and her backing band effortlessly move from swing to jazz to R&B, blues romps and grainy soul. She creates interesting hybrids out of her jazz, blues and soul influences, so “Get Behind the Mule” rides a disjointed blues groove that recalls another non-native who used New Orleans’ influence to help define his sound, Tom Waits (no relation—I checked).

The album’s closer, “Ignatius,” plays like the beautiful, somber soundtrack to the sunlight peering through the oak trees on St. Charles Avenue. Because she didn’t grow up here, Hope Waits isn’t blind to the beauty of New Orleans the way many natives can be, and she presents fresh interpretations of the city’s musical heritage, filtering it through her vision.