POP

Charlotte Hatherley: The Deep Blue
(Little Sister Records)
****
The cute former Ash guitarist has made a rather unexpected detour. Grey Will Fade, in 2004, was a spunky little punk pop album that seemed to be an extension of her then full-time band's guitar-heavy output. It was somewhat predictable but The Deep Blue is in no way obvious. It's a vast, swirling cloud of atmospherics and big-boned melodics. Initial impressions are that she has spent a fair amount of time listening to Japan's classic, Tin Drum, but she adheres to no one template, so you're surprised at every turn. Wounded Sky, for example, is multi-coloured psychedelia embellished by a pure pop chorus. A surprising triumph. Paul Connolly

Omarion: 21
(RCA)
***
Already a chart-topper Stateside, the second solo album from Omarion attempts to turn the one-time teen idol into an adult R&B star. The transition is largely successful. Like fellow ex-boybander Justin Timberlake, Omarion has turned to pricey producers Timbaland and The Neptunes, although his R&B is more modern retro than cutting-edge. The former pulls the best moves, notably on current single Ice Box, a jiggy, mid-tempo tune that oozes soul. Opener Entourage is top-notch electro-funk with an Eighties twist, and there are hints of Prince and Usher on other standout songs. Yet Omarion has yet to seal his own sound and bar a couple of insightful comments on fame, lyrically he largely sticks to finding love and losing it. Lisa Verrico

DANCE

MSTRKFT: The Looks
(Modular)
****
Dissolving a rock band with no guitarist to form a dance duo with guitars aplenty is a perverse move, but ex-Death From Above 1979 bassist Jesse F Keeler has pulled it off with MSTRKFT. Over the past year a slew of unlikely indie remixes has placed him and producer Al-P's at the forefront of the indie/dance glasnost. It's hard to believe debut album The Looks would outclass a MSTRKFT remix compilation, but these eight tracks of bounding bass and kinetic bleeping are frequently magnificent. Paris sounds like the Bladerunner soundtrack composed on MDMA. A lack of coherency and a tiresome love of vocoder clichÈs holds the record back, but never mind: slap The Looks on repeat all night and not a dancefloor in the world could object. Andrzej Lukowski

Indie

Malcolm Middleton: A Brighter Beat
(Full Time Hobby)
****
This title suggests that for his third solo record, Malcolm Middleton has made a break with former band Arab Strap's pathological glumness; the fact that the first track is called We're All Going To Die implies otherwise. Inevitably the truth is somewhere in between, but he couldn't have come up with a better record to establish himself post-Strap.
We're All Going To Die is a full-blooded glam stomp; the whole first half of A Brighter Beat is gobsmacking, salvo upon salvo of witty, catchier-than-MRSA indie-pop. The second half's a tad slower, but in essence A Brighter Beat sounds like Arab Strap only with better tunes, and you'd have to be pretty glumb to argue with that. Andrzej Lukowski