Conor Oberst
Souled Out!!!
Single
Wichita
August 25
**
Taken from his first solo album for 13 years, Souled Out!!! sees boy wonder Oberst enjoying his time away from long term alias Bright Eyes.

Despite being just 28 years old, his recent self titled release is his eighth. It's also his most accessible to date, and Souled Out!!! sees him almost reverting to his younger self.

He's long been sited as a spokesman for middle-class American youth, and while this is less angst-ridden than much of his signature work, it's got an air of Ben Folds that will appeal to fans of college indie.

With plodding, laid back beats and his distinctive, care free vocal, you can almost hear a smile spreading across Oberst's face. He's finally comfortable in his own skin, making music he knows his cult following will love.

But there are better singles on the album, which is one of his most varied, poppy records for years, whereas this, for all its upbeat cheeriness, is instantly forgettable.


David Holmes
I Heard Wonders
Single
Mercury
August 25
****
David Holmes is what you could call a career DJ. You might not have heard of him, but the chances are you'll have heard at least one of his tracks. But even the hardened clubber or chillout fanatic would be hard stretched to recognise him as the man behind this track.

An electric, bass-heavy intro with echoes of the Velvet Underground, melts into a Belle and Sebastian-esque dreamscape. Floaty melodies and ghostly, wispy vocals clash against an unsettling background to create an atmosphere his dance tracks have failed to match.

The rest of his upcoming album sticks to more familiar territory, but with lyrics from Suicide's Martin Rev, I Heard Wonders feels like Pulp set to an Ibiza chillout track. Holmes hasn't not betrayed his roots, merely smartened them up.



Eva Cassidy
Somewhere
Album
Blix St Records
August 25
***
A decade after the release of Songbird, the album that made her a household name, a new batch of long forgotten songs have been released by Eva's family.

Unknown until after her untimely death from cancer in 1996, fans have been given the unlikely treat of newly released, never before heard songs.

The vocals to some tracks, Ain't Doing Too Bad and Chain Of Fools were recorded live at Blues Alley on the same evening as her legendary recordings made for Songbird, and it shows - her voice has the same fragile purity that endeared her to millions.

While this record doesn't hit the same nerve as Songbird, it's an exciting discovery and documents another chapter of an extraordinary career.