Combining time in Fleet Foxes (as drummer and vocalist) with a prolific solo career hasn’t dented J Tillman’s output quality in any way. A Year In The Kingdom continues the minimalist singer-songwriter theme – it’s more Bon Iver than Fleet Foxes, more Damien Jurado or Mark Kozelek in their quieter times. It is also lovely, with its quiet air and gentle spaciousness. Gentleness is a trait of the album – guitars are strummed lightly, drums lightly brushed, piano played as if at 2 a.m. in an apartment block, and all instruments (there are many – is that a dulcimer there, a banjo there – are acoustic. The overall effect is one of mellowness. As the second album in a year, however, there remains the question of just how many of these songs needed to be heard. It is short – only 9 songs – and even in that length it is hard not to think that some pace changing could have been a good idea. Hushed, gentle beauty is a wonderful thing in context, and a little noise may have helped that message here.

ACE rating 7/10

There is no way past the infatuated blogger word of mouth that has accompanied this album, with its cut-and-paste stories of Christopher Owens’ childhood. Girls’ Album is a wholly simple pop album that does averagely what a lot of pop did in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s without really doing anything new (except swear a lot) – a journey back through bands like the Bluetones or the Candyskins (remember them? Exactly…) would put you into this space. However… There is something there. It is a rather unashamedly enjoyable album, a Californian soundscape (or at least the California of popular fiction), with a sulky vocal and lots of songs about girls. Owens sounds like a little like Elvis Costello in his 80s period, or even like John Cafferty (a semi-famous Bruce Springsteen wannabee from the 80s). The question is ‘is it the best of its kind’? and the answer is undoubtedly ‘no’. Pick up Pete and The Pirates well before reaching for this. Album is fine, but it is no classic – it has enough sugary hooks to make repeated listening worthwhile, but the Internet has decided to elevate it to a position it probably never asked for.

ACE rating 7/10

Brendan Benson is really best known now for being ‘the other one’ in the Raconteurs, the one who wasn’t that famous before stepping out with Jack White. Having thrown a largely great debut at us in Lapalco, Benson has since only occasionally released solo work – this is his fourth solo album. We haven’t really missed much, as nothing since Lapalco could genuinely be called essential. In My Old, Familiar Friend, he heads straight for MOR, Radio 2 world – the daytime stuff. If you sweetened up Billy Joel’s Piano Man, and softened its hard edges, you’d be in the right sort of place. Garbage Day is surely just a mincing version of Uptown Girl – a prize to anyone who makes it all the way through the song. There are a couple of singles to lull a random listener into a false sense of interest – Eyes On The Horizon will sound familiar to old Benson listeners, and A Whole Lot Better is surely a Raconteurs song on day release. Best avoided.

ACE rating 5/10