An admission. I regard The Fat Lady Sings as one of the best bands of the 1990s - an Irish band capable of crafting just the most perfect of songs. Their 1991 album, Twist, still spends undue amounts of time in my CD player. So, when songwriter and singer, Nick Kelly, split the band in 1994, there was a real concern that the world may miss out. In 1997, his first, acclaimed solo album suggested we'd be OK, but since then, nothing. Until now. Running Dog was funded in part by almost 500 fans buying the album before it was recorded. This isn't the strongest work of his career - the 8 years that have passed haven't all been spent on perfecting these songs, it seems. But, there are standout songs that would have sat well on TFLS albums, and that's good enough for me. With an atmosphere somewhere between The Blue Nile or The Frames ethereal edge, to an intensity bordering on REM at their best, the album is poetic, intelligent, melodic, unpretentious. A gem.

ACE rating 9/10

There is a clear pleasure in looseness of the kind that accompanied Rubber Soul-era Beatles or Gomez' first album. Dr Dog are a band which draws a lot from both those places, and adds in a rolling, almost shambolic, accompaniment to some songs - like Crosby Stills Nash and Young goofing off in the studio. A band with a growing cult following in the US, there is a lot to like here, but the overwhelming thought is that they seem entirely too pleased with their cleverness and lack of polish. If The Magic Numbers were a little bit more 'college', they would be completely in Dr Dog space - a space where Mercury Rev gets mixed up with Squeeze. Too much talent to focus, or quirky funsters? Hmmm...

ACE rating 7/10

Del Amitri fans have had a quiet time of late. While this won't necessarily fill the void, Alex McEwan is also from Glasgow, and Beautiful Lies is full of the gentle, melodic, and, erm... safe music that band became so popular with. Self-released, Beautiful Lies reminds more of songstress Katie Melua than more urgent songwriters like David Gray or truly great Glaswegians like Kevin McDermott. In fact, the grittiness of that city is expunged almost entirely from this album, which has a Nashville feel - Del Amitri again... All fine, but there's not much that's not done better elsewhere. Then again, the album as a whole has a good flow, engaging melodies and a sweet delivery with a good amount of Mr Sheen to polish it all off. So, that'll be a Del Amitri album then - just remember to look in the section marked 'M'.

ACE rating 6/10