CLÈMENTINE MARCH ***
Les Étoiles À Ma Porte EP (Water Baby/Freaksville)
Some pleasant hopscotching here, across musical styles and goegraphical boundaries. French Londoner March’s time spent in Brazil has lent her songs a louche warmth, a playful cool that tickles even as the title track moves from glassy Pink Floydisms to chugging Stereolab rock. Repeated listens definitely help. WS
JACK PERRETT ****
No Time For Me (self-released)
Perrett’s latest single is straight-out-of-the-blocks Britrock. Plenty of Oasis swagger alongside a garage rock guitar riff that could level Perrett’s native Newport. It’s catchy and compact with a strong vocal hook that’s hidden, like a secret weapon, under layers of Detroit distortion. JPD
HOT 8 BRASS BAND ***
Bottom Of The Bucket (Tru Thoughts)
Caution: Do not listen to this single while walking down a busy city street on a dreary Monday morning unless you’re totally comfortable with treating your fellow commuters to a display of unconscious, full-fat butt-wiggle (and maybe a tuneless whistle). Boisterously upbeat, jauntily shambolic stuff. You have been warned. MC
NATHAN HALL & THE SINISTER LOCALS ****
The Volga Sturgeon Face EP (The Hip Replacement)
First solo outing for Soft Hearted Scientists frontman Hall and co, and another wild voyage into his chock-a-block, ever-intriguing mind – war and murder past and present, Tempus Fugit all over the prettiest music! Psych-pop, folk and prog with layered vocals and Beach Boys-ish harmonies, keyboards, harpsichord and what sounds like a calliope, strings, electronic gizmos and more. RLR
NOVO AMOR ****
Bathing Beach (Believe)
Looking at the sleeve for this EP, the sounds I imagined before I pressed play were almost a dead ringer for the image I was presented with: a crisp blue sky and the tousled tips of fir trees. This Aberystwyth chap reaches higher with a gliding falsetto and graceful euphoric folky arrangements. Check him out. CPI
SINGLE BY SUNDAY ****
Watch Out World (self-released)
The Glaswegian four-piece are more pop than punk and completely radio-friendly. The EP has four boppy, catchy songs with some surprisingly cool riffs – particularly on I Can’t Go On Like This. The band is musically tight but vocalist Josh Ladds sounds like he’s out of breath trying to keep up. LN