You can’t help but admire a singer/songwriter who wears his or her heart on their sleeve, in Alex Hulme’s case, that is the ‘sleeve’ of his debut EP, ‘The Wood‘.

The Lancashire born new kid on the block explains his top track, ‘Keep Chasing’ is a song of defiance, against all those who tried to knock him down, with the overriding message being; keep chasing the dream. And if points were awarded purely on the ability to pen heartfelt lyrics, spurned by feelings such as this, his new EP would secure top marks.

However we live in world in which the majority of listeners absorb the melody and music before they consider the lyrics and unfortunately, for me, it really is only the lyrics that move Hulme’s songs forward.
Born into a family of musicians, Hulme’s grandfather was an opera singer, his older brother, Laurie is part of the four-part Manchester based Indie band, ‘Beat the Radar’ and his cousin, Ed is the bassist in ‘Working for a Nuclear Free City‘.
The singer/songwriter picked up his first guitar at just seven years old, performed live at the age of thirteen and six years on is now celebrating the release of his debut EP through record label, Cityscape.

The EP’s opening signature track, ‘The Wood’ is a good indication of Hulme’s vocal abilities, but plays like a demo which is yet to be produced and sadly the rest of the EP continues in similar vein.

While a listener is momentarily excited by the promise of the catchy choral chords it quickly becomes apparent that there is little else to follow and the incessant over-dubbing of Hulme’s own voice throughout ‘The Wood’ leaves an honest listener willing it to end.

On the contrary, ‘Keep chasing‘, is an instantly likeable upbeat track, which sees Hulme fuse his pop influences with folk in a similar fashion to the Plain White T’s, and is easily the most memorable track on the EP.

His third offering, ‘Drifting’ is a beautifully emotive folk classic which describes the all too common and deteriorating effects of dementia which the singer’s own grandmother endured before she passed away last year. Those who know their melodies should instantly identify with this track, as the opening chords are similar to Paul Weller’s, ‘English Rose’ which endorses Hulme’s ability to not only select but also combine the perfect chords.

Finally for anyone who failed to embrace it first time, the EP closes with an ‘alternative’ remix of the second track, ‘Keep Chasing’. The key difference from its first appearance being the obvious addition of a somewhat clinical keyboard/synthesized bass line which rips the track clean from it’s underground folk roots and sees it begging to be considered as mainstream pop.

By the end of the EP a listener is excused for feeling a tad confused as to where to place Hulme who starts out with folk intentions. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for folk in mainstream pop music, far from it, but given the very clear direction of the likes of Newton Faulkner and Mumford & Sons, I think Hulme has a long way to go.

Described on her MySpace page as alternative pop, Alev Lenz is a name probably unfamiliar to many. The German-Turkish singer songwriter released her debut album Storytelling Piano Playing Fräulein in Austria, Switzerland and Germany last year with her latest release now available worldwide on iTunes. Released independently through her own label in May 2010, Alte Schönhauser is comprised of an eclectic mix of genres, ergo being dubbed under the heading of ‘alternative’. Having been compared to that of Norah Jones, Lenz’ vocals are reminiscent of several other folk artists, namely Holly Conlan and Emiliana Torrini, which creates a warm sense of familiarity on a first listen.

With the majority of the songs on the EP consistent of acoustic composition, the songs have a simplistic and stripped back charm about them, accentuating the apparent folk and traditional genres within her music. Lenz’ talent for storytelling is presented across a collection of five exceptional tracks, ranging from the serene, soothing sound of ‘Dance’ to the upbeat, rock and folk infused ‘Song For Sea’. Despite the record’s conventional nature, it encompasses some surprises on first listen; the eccentric and wacky nature of the third track on the album, entitled ‘Band-Aid Man’, is evocative of late Dresden Dolls tracks, through the almost theatrical and melodramatic nature of the song.

The album, a compilation of love songs, takes the listener on a journey with Lenz, enabling us to empathise with the situations she sings about; the first song ‘Write About It’ expresses her initial anger about love and relationships, which contrasts to the final song on the record ‘Serve With Milk’ which presents the notion of self-discovery and atonement through the calm and tranquil composition.

I can only describe Alte Schönhauser as an unanticipated pleasure. Each song’s unique and off the wall charm, combined with flawless vocals, creates a sheer sense of variety among the album. Despite the numerous triumphs of the record, it is my belief that in the current state of the music industry, and with a chart saturated with overproduced nonsense, Alte Schönhauser’s success is surely limited.

It’s always quite heartwarming to hear a new band trying to capitalize on an empty space in the industry rather than squeezing in between their contemporaries and while I couldn’t say that Love Ends Disaster!’s debut album ‘City of Glass’ is the best I’ve ever heard, it is probably one of the most interesting.

Having praised the band for their originality, it’s plain to see where they get their sound from, but it’s the fact that they’re a sort of mutant hybrid that stops them from being a sound-alike of any one act.  While some tracks on ‘City of Glass’, particularly the title track, ring of pre-Neon Bible Arcade Fire in the most obtuse sense – that is, without any of the flair that makes Win Butler and the gang so exceptional - others have heavy echoes of Blood Brothers and Late of the Pier about them.

It’s a vastly diverse and ultimately strange Jekyll and Hyde creation, and though it takes a bit of getting used to, it’s really quite outstanding. Tracks one and two of the album (City of Glass & Suzanne) are very much well-structured and orderly indie-rock and while this shouldn’t be taken to mean that they are boring in any way, you’d have no trouble guessing who they’d been listening to when writing these tracks. Having listened to the rest of the album, however, I’d consider this homage rather than replication – the other eleven tracks differ so vastly that you might not even realise they were the same band. In many ways, that’s a fantastic achievement – I love my music to take me by surprise – but on the other hand it’s a fairly disrupted collection of songs and, though each one is as well plotted and perfectly executed as the last, they don’t all gel as well as they could; it feels much more like a collection of songs than an album.

But, Love Ends Disaster! are fearless. In terms of their use of instruments (a trait they share with Arcade Fire), employing bells and an array of other paraphernalia to enrich their sound -their application of dissonance – and their willingness to experiment with structure and form to keep their audience guessing is truly inspiring and all to rare among their peers. And in the end, this wins out over most negative aspects of their sound (the lyrics are somewhat sub-par and the vocals aren’t what you might call exceptional) and will undoubtedly propel this band further forward toward British Sea Power and Broken Records.

It’s hard to pin down a genre but if you like your music interesting, take a listen.

Barnsley based alternative pop outfit The Exhibition were formed in the spring of 2008. The band's previous EP was released in February and garnered radio play from Tom Robinson and BBC Raw Talent, as well as landing them support slots with Roses, Kings Castles, Hatcham Social and The Kabeedies.

Latest release THE CROWN / COMA was recorded with Dave Sanderson at 2fly Studios and showcases this four-pieces style of moody indie rock, with echoes of Bloc Party, Radiohead and Joy Divison.

THE CROWN opens in a muted and syncopated reverb heavy guitar groove, The Exhibition a band not shy of letting atmosphere and space play a large part in their sound. As the band slowly build to more expansive and noisy indie rock highs, they create a slow burning menace that reeks of moody introspection and dark, brooding intensity. With vocals that have a definite echo of ex Bloc Party main man Kele Okereke about them, The Exhibition craft a darkly, delicious atmosphere here with THE CROWN, one that's full of promise and definite potential. Whilst COMA doesn't quite achieve the same highs, a more straightforward and obvious sounding affair, The Exhibition do deliver another decent sounding moment here; that atmosphere and brooding intensity still very much front and centre; despite some unnecessary guitar noodling that feels a little too forced and show off y.

A promising and darkly brooding single, THE CROWN / COMA suggests that The Exhibition are a band capable of great things and one that leaves you eager to hear just where they go next.

Pretty Little Thing is the latest single from Australian soft rockers Black Chords.
With all the experimentation and try-hards floating around the music scene at the moment, it is refreshing to find a band who have subscribed so unashamedly to the NME-friendly, indie template. And they have done a pretty good job of it too.

Originating from Melbourne, Australia, the band is fronted by 27-year-old songwriter Nick Milwright and has already excited Australian music critics. The band’s self-titled album was released in October 2009 and they are currently spreading their chocolatey, soft rock sound across the Atlantic.

Perfecting the build ups and breakdowns of all the best alternative rock hits, ‘Pretty Little Thing’ is a moody creation of heart-warming Snow Patrol vocals with climactic drums and guitars. The sound is reminiscent of early Coldplay and Biffy Clyro – chart friendly yet alternative enough to entertain fans from both sides of the mainstream tracks.

There are oodles of promise in this latest offering from Black Chords; ‘Pretty Little Thing’ is set to cause an almighty stir in the UK music industry, turning Black Chords from rock n’ roll seedlings into fully-fledged festival favourites.

My Own Flag’s debut, ‘Divello’ starts off quite well.
The first few songs boast Muse-like riffs and vocals belonging to Simon Bamber, a frontman who’s half-shout half-growl occasionally sounds like Slipknot’s Corey Taylor in his most glorious moments.

The Bristol-born band is made of Bamber (Vocals/Guitar), Gaz Wills (Bass) and Andy Bradford (Drums) and they take their influences from hardcore bands like Shellac and Fugazi as well as grunge acts like Nirvana and Soundgarden.

Zahlen is a gorgeously melodic slab of anthemic metal with a lyrical hook that will draw the fans in. Album title track, ‘Divello’ brings about a delicious feel of impending doom, much like a marching band of metal heads might do.

Black Lady veers towards a more acoustic, country sound but Bamber’s rasping shout is still present. Creeping guitars open ‘Simion’ that develop into full-blown hardcore noise. Phrases is the closest My Own Flag get to a ballad; a simplistic yet haunting riff mixed with pained vocals; “I feel myself repeating / forever more”.
As an album, Divello, sporadically channels the great elements of good metal – the passionate distortion, that addictive nu-metal edge, howling vocals – but it seems to be missing the best part.

It would be harsh to say this album has no heart but it definitely comes across a little cold blooded. Some people believe hardcore music can’t be beautiful but beauty is the very element necessary for hardcore to survive. Those tender moments in the midst of all that noise distortion are exactly what draw legions of fans into the scene.
On ‘Divello’, there are very few moments where emotion shows in Bamber’s vocals; these moments are beautiful but unfortunately, quite rare. The majority of his lyrics are delivered with an over-confident, passionless yell that starts to grate as the album draws to a close.
There are a few impressive moments on ‘Divello’ that suggest My Own Flag have it in them to make a beautiful hardcore album, but unfortunately this time, those beautiful moments are drowned out by the majority of passionless noise.

You might be surprised to hear that a band who have probably played less than ten shows, and have no monstrous PR war machine backing them, are currently nestled proudly at number two in the play.com pre-order charts (enviably just behind Kylie Minogue), having ousted Example, Shutterbug and the cast of Glee from their positions. It’s impressive, no doubt – but it’s not a surprise; what I have on my desk is one of the most well written, best produced and most stunningly executed releases I have ever received – and, without a doubt, the best debut.

Echo Lake is a combination of two brothers (Joe and Dan Henley) and one close friend (Matt Oakman) who, collectively, have created an homage to fellow Brit-Rockers (and cult favorites) Hundred Reasons & Hell Is For Heroes whilst incorporating the flair for melodramatic popular song so well coined by Jimmy Eat World. And they’ve done this, without being a sound-a-like band – the influences are unashamedly plain to see, but Echo Lake are not a carbon copy.

The Sink EP (digital release only) is a collection of four songs that possess, in equal parts, the best of good, melody driven pop-punk and balls-out, open string, rock. EP Opener (and title track) Sink is an unexpectedly crunching assault that wouldn’t have been out of place on one of the Biffy Clyro albums of old and, yet, swings effortlessly to sing along melodies - and that’s a theme that seems to play out through the whole EP.
There’s a trend in music, particularly rife among British bands right now, to try and sing unspeakably high and ditch your accent – and the ones that aren’t doing that, tend to be using their accent for evil a la The Wombats. Thankfully, Echo Lake don’t fall in to either of these categories; all three men have held on to their (real) accents and intonation – as a result the diction is spot on and incredibly relatable. There are one or two falsetto lines that aren’t so hot, but in a strange way it makes for a more interesting and more relatable piece of music – honesty is the best policy, after all.

Real standout tracks for me are ‘Untied’ (track 2), whose low tones and well-plotted lyrics seem to make it instantly re-listenable and the EP’s closer ‘Eyelids’ with it’s tinge of folk that rings vaguely of Mumford and Sons.
But, all in all, this four track EP houses the best of British rock music but with some owning to America; without bands like Jimmy Eat World and Something Corporate, they might not be so well rounded. But, as it happens, they are – the hooks are huge, the tracks are sing-along quality after a single listen and the group harmonies are spot on. You couldn’t ask for more from a debut really, could you?

I’ve always been an advocate of that old adage of not judging a book by it’s cover, but anyone that’s ever tried knows that it’s considerably more difficult sometimes – being presented with folk-pop-acoustica duo Merchandise’s (AKA Brad Wood and Conrad Astley – no relation) new album ‘For The Masses’ is one of those times; sadly, the bright orange amateur-photoshopper thematics aren’t specific to the artwork.

To say this album was bad would be too harsh, it isn’t, it does possess some positive attributes; the production on the acoustic tracks is excellent, for example, and there are one or two tracks (such as Enemy) that have vaguely catchy hooks. But, that said, it does have a thick haze of Nizlopi clinging to it, with all the lyrical prowess of Scouting For girls or a dead cat.
In a modern world of enigmatic album titles and bizarre stage shows it is, however, refreshing to come across an act like Merchandise. ‘For The Masses’ probably couldn’t be more accurate or informative – their music is inoffensive and a little round at the edges – that said, there are one or two tracks that I wouldn’t consider out of place on my (admittedly optimistic) barbecue playlist; ‘You Were Right’ does have an almost Ibiza chill-out streak running through it which, though a little staid, is interesting and does have the desired effect. Similarly, ‘Lonesome Beauty’ is a song I could happily play in my car on a slow summer drive – it’s got a steady beat, a catchy tune and is interesting enough to keep me awake but not so interesting as to be distracting. Make of that what you will.

Having made the unpleasant comparisons above, I would say that ‘For The Masses’ also has a faint reverberation of Badly Drawn Boy echoing through some of the tracks; but it is faint, and the down-tempo tracks where Badly Drawn Boy excel feel a strained and the drawn out notes that don’t feature so much on the majority of the album and it’s upbeat track listing feel tired and out of singer Brad Wood’s comfort zone.

In ‘For The Masses’ Merchandise have produced a collection of mostly well-produced songs with one or two stand out tracks. But for me, as an album, it doesn’t work and I would be surprised if under different circumstances I had listened past track two.

The comparisons, whilst predictable and glaringly obvious are impossible to ignore on hearing Harper Simon for the first time; yes, he sounds almost identical to his father. The fact that he's also dabbling in the melodic folk that defined Simon and Garfunkel perhaps doesn't do much to differentiate himself either.

Despite those obvious comparisons and with them firmly out of the way, WISHES AND STARS is a wonderful sounding debut single from this singer/songwriter, the kind of catchy pop folk song that immediately endears itself and wins you over with a wink and a grin.
Co-written with Nigerian Booker prize winner Ben Okri, WISHES AND STARS is an instantly winning sounding pop single, Harper Simon off to a glorious start here, one of those songs it's almost impossible to dislike; breezy, agreeable and care free.

Harper Simon makes a wonderfully convincing first impression with WISHES AND STARS, a delightful pop single that leaves you hungry to hear much, much more.

It was always expected that once the dust had settled on Oasis’ disbandment, floods of new rock n’ roll stars would rise up from the ashes like wannabe rehashes of the legendary Manchester band.

As hyperbolic as it sounds, Glasgow 4-piece Annie Stevenson seem to have all the capabilities to fill that hole in the music scene. From the opening chords of ‘Get Off the Street’ you realise that this band are the Kasabian-esque lad rock that 2010 has been waiting for.

Infused with that Glaswegian edge that has worked so well for their hometown’s rock heritage, you will find Annie Stevenson’s mix of slurring Pistols vocals and cheeky Fratellis pop absolutely irresistible.

‘Country Killer’ veers away from heaviness and more towards a softer indie sound much like The Coral.
‘TV took My Soul’ is a whirling mass of grunge, incorporated with the sort of riffs that wipe out any chance of this band being labelled amateur.
Final track ‘I’m the One you Hold’ is a heart-achingly good indie love song, set to make the girls swoon and the boys burn with envy. The production is weak but absurdly, the muffled, garage band feel actually adds to the authenticity of sound.

Therefore it seems it is time to throw Mumford & Sons out the window and burn your Dubstep CDs. Concrete British indie rock n roll has returned in the form of Annie Stevenson. This band is set to storm the music charts much like those four Manchester lads who came before them.