The connection between making great music and making a living is a bumpy road to god-knows-where. If the potholes don’t get you, then the pitfalls probably will.

Some of the greatest artists I know have stalled en route leaving hopes and dreams scattered on the hard shoulder. It’s heartbreaking stuff to watch.

The joy of making music is its own reward in many ways, but when it’s your life’s work, the stakes are higher. Every labour of love has a price.

But still, the most heroic creative feats are conjured by those who strive against the odds to perfect their game. The kind of commitment you have to forge with your practice when you know it’s never going to stave off the financial chills is a deep one indeed.

It’s from these depths that the pure drop emerges.

It’s easy tell when there’s no blood, sweat or tears in the music. There’s an abundance of all three in the sounds of Katie Kim. I know of no other who puts so much in while expecting so little in return. She’s the consummate artist, making music for music’s sake.

Her position in the commercial scheme of things might be close to nowhere but musically she's in a league of her own. Cover & Flood is filled with the kind of incandescent light that can make your world a brighter place. All 20 songs are beguiling hymns of ghostly provenance. There's a consistency of temperature and tone that only the very best records possess. It's an emotional landscape with a unique atmosphere.

This is the 40th column in the Sunken Treasure series and the first in which I use the word masterpiece. Cover & Flood is all that and more.

One fine day this glorious album will be discovered anew and trumpets will sound as justice is finally served.