The easiest way to describe the style of Eugene, Oregon-based jazz singer Halie Loren’s latest album, After Dark, is to call her a younger version of Karrin Allyson. She has the same sort of style — that singing to mischievous, up-tempo numbers one minute, seducing on lounge numbers the next, then throwing in the odd bit of scatting or singing in French for good measure. Vocally, her range is similar — rich, subtle, with a hint of rasp — and some of the songs are hers though a number of them are covers. To that end, these descriptions only give you an idea of her performance on this album because she is far from being a copycat.

Whether performing standards like “La Vie en Rose” and “A Sentimental Mood,” or covering songs by Stevie Wonder (“Happier than the Morning Sun”) and Tracy Chapman (“Give Me One Reason”), Loren makes these tracks stand out because she turns the familiar into something that is decidedly her own. At times her voice dances with ease over the chords and words of a tune as on Wonder’s song, or else it lingers in exquisite style over every last syllable, as on the title track. Sometimes she does both, as her rendition of “Bye Bye Blackbird” demonstrates. Whether somber or seductive, sedated or energetic, Loren’s varied — and in all ways successful — efforts make you stop and take notice.

Among the other enjoyable aspects of this album are the players who join Loren. Pianist Matt Treder is appropriately spunky or plaintive on each tune; percussionist Brian West is subtle in his playing and helps set the right rhythms each time; guitarist Chris Ward and bassist Mark Schneider play complementarily throughout, never stealing the spotlight or distracting from the performance. Everything sounds so pleasing to begin with, but then a guest appearance by singer John Shipe on “Beyond the Sea” creates an easygoing duet that gives you yet another reason to smile.

Loren even contributes lyrics to a couple of songs on this album — “Gray to Grand” and “Thirsty” — and the results are great. The first is a playful number replete with hand percussion and whistling, all while singing about making life extraordinary, a fact which is confirmed by the following lines: “Yeah, we could go on living as we are/ But who wants to be an extra/ When they can be a star?” The latter is a desperate sort of song about how an ex-lover’s love is the only thing that can quench the dryness in her life, her lips, her heart; it is one of the album’s best.

After Dark is a shimmering record for those who love female singers who can bring the playfulness, pizazz, vulnerability and sensuality to the songs they perform. Whether light and jazzy or more soulful and reserved, Loren hits ‘em out of the park one right after another.