It is hard to miss comparisons to artists like Cat Power and Mazzy Star on this debut from Sarah O'Shura. However, where Cat Power's Jukebox disappointed, and Mazzy Star has done little to note for a decade or so, Battle of Land and Sea is a delight. As light as sea mist, the music flows in and ebbs away gently, the voice like clear mountain spring water over hushed instrumentation. Produced and recorded by rising star Jacob Golden, this short album is one that genuinely has you wanting more - if Cat Power had made this disc, the world's critics would have gone into meltdown. There is contemplative mystery, sweet melody and a gossamer touch at turns - it has the air of the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions in its atmospherics. Beauty is an overused word in relation to music, but it is unavoidable here - the sense of three dimensionality is absorbing. It is hard not to fall 'within' a song like Lady, to not feel held up in its soft chorus. It is rare to suggest that a record like this could only be improved by being longer, but Sarah O'Shura's next work will be awaited with massive interest.

ACE rating 9/10

If you fell for Feist after hearing a few iPod Nano adverts (and Yael Naim from the Macbook Air advert), head out immediately and get yourself this disc before anyone else beats you to it. We Brave Bee Stings And All is better than The Reminder all ways up. The voices are almost identical, but We Brave Bee Stings carries a level of invention, oh-so-sexy sassiness, and sheer unadulterated great music throughout. It isn't a disc that draws you in on a couple of songs and leaves you stranded on the rest. Thao Nguyen's second album is a delight, even if it ticks very few conventional boxes - the lyrics are Ricky Lee Jones wacky at times (just listen to Bag of Hammers) - but listen to Swimming Pools or Geography and you'll either be hooked or you'll head off looking for the safe blandness of a Kate Walsh. Nguyen is of Vietnamese descent, from Washington, DC, and there are references to her father's departure at an early age, but none of that is overt on anything other than a very deep listed - the songs have a restless energy and enthusiasm that is refreshing. This is pop music for people who are smarter than a 10 year old.

ACE rating 9/10

You may have views about Field Music (I do, and most of them aren't positive), but David Brewis, of that selfsame band, has made a bit of a gem here with his side project, School of Language. Hailing from Sunderland (yes, that Sunderland), Sea From Shore explodes out of the starting gate with a contender for single of the year in Rockist part 1, and then proceeds to..., well, to update 10CC for 2008 - this is a rock disc that uses intelligence, power pop, invention and odd structures. Utilising fellow Sunderland musicians (Futureheads, Field Music), Sea From Shore is inconsistent - it mixes XTC with its 10CC - bound together with the Rockist theme (it has four parts, although it's not as pretentious as that sounds). Kind of like 10CC's Deceptive Bends. It would be easier to imagine this disc hailing from Austin, Texas, or Athens, Georgia, such is the maturity of the rock, when it is good. In the end, it can only be hoped that Field Music becomes a launching pad for School of Language. Sea From Shore is the best disc yet from that stable.

ACE rating 8/10