Bella Union is rapidly becoming a pretty reliable shorthand for a certain folky alternative excellence, and Stephanie Dosen deserves her place alongside Midlake, Fionn Regan and The Dears. With a vocal quality somewhere among Cat Power's Chan Marshall, Gemma Hayes and Sarah McLachlan, it is hard to imagine any song sung by her not having a serious head start. But, when combined with magical, elegant and melodic songs, as it is here, this is a fantastic summer/ late summer album. The edge of melancholia leavens the mood wonderfully - the wistfulness adding a layer of sophistication that allows - well, almost demands - repeated playing. When so many singer-songwriters stay at better-than-competent, it is a big pool to jump into, but Stephanie Dosen has more than enough to reward extra attention. The album's opener, This Joy, is the kind of song you'll fall for head over heels, but it's not the album's only highlight - the title track closes the album, and sounds like a Thom Yorke song in its minor chord soaring. Truly a delightful debut.

ACE rating 8/10

Wolverhampton doesn't have many famous musicians to namecheck, but Robert Plant is probably all the singer that's needed for Scott Matthews' heritage to be locked down. With any justice, Matthews will be a breakthrough artist for a world that loves Ray Lamontagne, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. Spotting the groundswell that has started to pick up on this talented singer-songwriter, Island has re-released Passing Stranger. In truth, it blends influences from artists such as Jeff Buckley (and his own Van Morrison references), Gomez, Neil Young, maybe even Chris Rea, in its blues, folk, world music nods. The single Elusive is a dreamy entrée, and has had repeated play on Radio 1. As an album, there is no single theme, no monotony - it does range into bottleneck blues, Indian rhythm and surf-reggae, but that does make it more listenable as a whole. The interest levels peak on the less mellow tracks - it would be wonderful to hear Matthews explore his talent in that direction. The Ivor Novello award for Elusive is hopefully a fair incentive to stay away from the Jack Johnson stuff. One hopes that Matthews will self-evidently be better than Rufus Wainwright when he supports him in the UK later this year, and continue the word-of-mouth growth to a bigger audience.

ACE rating 8/10

Singer-songwriter albums are not always relaxing affairs, and, unlike Stephanie Dosen, Alela Diane takes the Cat Power direct tension, rather than Chan Marshall's voice. The Pirate's Gospel is an in-your-face affair, reminiscent of Michelle Shocked, Joanna Newsom or Gillian Welch. Its simplicity - protesting songs sung over plucked guitar with a drop of harmony here and there - it is a sound that could have gone back to Woodstock (and indeed Diane's voice is reminiscent of Janis Joplin), but the trance-like songs almost need the comfort brought by artists like Newsom, Sufjan Stevens and the Mountain Goats to find their footing - this isn't a comfortable album, and even less so if you dig into the lyrics: self-referential, meditative and confrontational, they make their point directly and simply. If Joanna Newson is your thing, Alela Diane will be also.

ACE rating 7/10