POP
Polly Scattergood
Polly Scattergood
(Mute)
****When you are a singer called Polly Scattergood, people probably expect you to go around distributing nosegays from a pretty wicker basket. This is not, however, what this Polly is about. She sings songs that deal with blood, paranoia, pills and suicide. Fortunately, she has a robust sense of the dramatic possibilities of melody, as is immediately apparent on the opening I Hate the Way. There are hints of Kate Bush,
PJ Harvey and even a whisper of Patti Smith, but Ms Scattergood is a singular talent who conjures big, strong songs from a delicate sensibility.
PETE CLARK

Starsailor
All the Plans
(Virgin)
**
Four years since their last album and eight since their debut had them lauded as the next Coldplay, history has passed Starsailor by. Though the pounding piano of Tell Me It's Not Over makes for a strident opener, and the chorus of The Thames jangles away pleasantly, there's little here to propel the Wigan band back towards centre stage. Stars and Stripes opts for a darker, skeletal groove which is new to them, and Change My Mind is a little bit country rock, but the significant hurdle remains James Walsh's tearful wail, here as overwrought as ever.
DAVID SMYTH

Vetiver
Tight Knit
(Bella Union)
***
Four albums in, the collective based around Virginian Andy Cabic are settling into their gentle stride. Very much of the atmospheric, languid end of new Americana — albeit with hints of more traditional folk — the sweet-voiced Cabic strums his way through 10 tracks which detail lost love, found contentment and lonesome homeliness. There's the occasional melodic flourish, especially on the Ry Cooder‑ish opener Rolling Sea and the atypically jaunty On the Other Side, while Sister's bassline is almost reggae-ish. Those who yearn for a lovely, unassuming diversion will find much to treasure.
JOHN AIZLEWOOD

JAZZ
Gilad Atzmon
In Loving Memory of America
(Enja)
****
An avid Charlie Parker disciple, Atzmon recently recreated the Bird with Strings album with great care. Here, with five Parkerian standards and six beautiful originals (notably In the Small Hours), he sounds even better. Between his quartet and the Sigamos String Quartet, and occasionally using soprano sax or clarinet, the brilliant Israeli altoist brings new maturity and restraint to his always impassioned work. The title track magically demonstrates in one minute, 42 seconds how bebop grew from big-city street speech patterns. Hear it all live next Tuesday at St Cyprian's Church near Baker Street.
JACK MASSARIK

WORLD
Davy Sicard
Kabar
(Warner France)
***
There's something very French about Davy Sicard's music, with his soft, yearning voice, light airy guitar and sophisticated production. But French with a twist, as he comes from Réunion in the Indian Ocean, still administered by France, and sings a contemporary form of maloya, the dance music of the island. There is some traditional instrumentation plus delicate strings, percussion and female backing vocals, but it is Sicard's intimate and vulnerable voice that makes the strongest impression. The songs, in Creole and French, are very fluid, sometimes holding back, then pulling ahead, while the vocal harmonies on songs like Tsilaosana and Mon Frér are haunting. Something of a discovery.
SIMON BROUGHTON