The build-up to July's Latitude Festival in Suffolk got off to a highly promising start last night as part of a tour promoting the event's more interesting acts.

After a successful debut last year, the second Latitude offers an excellent musical line-up with a slight bias towards alternative folk and other credible guitar-based sounds, boasting Damien Rice, Jarvis Cocker and The Magic Numbers among its big draws, as well as a strong selection of art, film and live comedy. But last night was a showcase for some of the more hotly-tipped young musicians scheduled to appear at the event.

Alberta Cross, a London act who bonded over a love of psychedelia, Leonard Cohen and The Band, wore their influences on their sleeves, but with enough flair to please the audience.

Sporting a hat that exuded Deliverance-style hillbilly menace, lead singer Petter Ericson Stakee was captivating, boasting a pure and eerie falsetto in breathtaking contrast to his gruff speaking voice.

With some lovely close harmonies, a variety of tempos, and judicious use of electric piano, they brought an authentic Seventies country rock flavour to the proceedings.

Their compositions did not burst with originality and it was hard to identify any hit singles but they proved a worthy addition to the festival's bill nonetheless.

Potentially chart-bound tracks were in far greater supply when Angus and Julia Stone took the stage. The brother and sister were backed by a tight little band who brought out the best in their folk-tinged pop.

All Of Me, one of the highlights on the Australian singers' recent mini-album, was a sweetly atmospheric ballad, Julia's little-girl voice - which has provoked obvious comparisons with Joanna Newsom - shining over subtle acoustic backing and her brother's delicate harmonies.

Kooky and sexy, Julia was very much the frontwoman, delivering lead vocals and inter-song banter, which, while endearing, contained the kind of bogus wisdom often proffered by actors - very obvious truths stated slowly and in an overly earnest manner.

Well-constructed, lyrically accessible and anthemic, many of their tracks would not have sounded out of place on daytime radio. Private Lawns was their finest track, its cheeky, toe-tapping rhythm impossible to resist, with Julia throwing in a trumpet solo.

At first, it was hard to work out what had propelled headliner Findlay Brown to the brink of stardom, apart from his song Come Home being used in a recent ad campaign by Mastercard.

But while he may not have blown the crowd away with conventional crooning, his smouldering intensity was mesmerising.

The Yorkshireman's sophisticated guitar work and ethereal harmonies from an excellent band provided an ideal backdrop for his subtle, folky charms. He was equally impressive delivering the superb ballad I Will with only his acoustic guitar.

A refreshing event at which musicianship was a higher priority than hype, Longing For Latitude lived up to its name.