Review: What's hot in music

Kings of Leon – Walls:outh & Young Manhood, Kings Of Leon’s 2003 debut ricocheted around inside your skull, full of bite, while Aha Shake Heartbreak had enough punch and wit to floor even hardened indie aficionados. Their more recent efforts however (besides the hit machine Only By The Night), have been a sludge of identikit guitar indie, only just carried by frontman Caleb Followill’s gravelly vocals. WALLS is no Aha Shake Heartbreak, but it bounds and scampers with an energy that has been thoroughly lacking of late. First single Waste A Moment swirls with electric guitar, scrambled with country undertones and rocky riffs, Over thrums across yearning vocals and Muchacho, complete with Mexican style clicking, rolls like a slow salsa. It’s not stunning, but there’s depth here. Ella Walker

Rebecca Ferguson –Superwoman: It’s amazing to think that Rebecca Ferguson was the runner up to Matt Cardle on The X Factor in 2010. Runner up! To the certifiably bland Matt Cardle! Four albums on though and it’s clear Ferguson is the real winner. Superwoman follows in the same soulful vein as her critically acclaimed earlier records, Heaven and Freedom. She belts out Bones, her Scouse burr catching heartily on the huge crescendos; Mistress is proper power pop with a big, funky chorus Whitney wouldn’t sniff at (“There’s plenty of girls who’d love to play your mistress for a week/That ain’t me/ No, no nooo!”), while Without A Woman shows off Ferguson’s dramatic range. She is emotional without sliding into being weepy and saccharine – this is a woman on fire, and on form. Ella Walker

Dr John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell – This Time it’s Personal:Punk poet John Cooper Clarke’s snarling Salford burr has been heard in all manner of venues in a career well into its fourth decade, but I bet there’s nowhere, that has heard him sound like this before. This Time It’s Personal sees the 67-year-old team up with former Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell and sing, yes sing, some of the favourite songs from his youth. He has a surprisingly mellifluous croon and while hardly Sinatra, shares some of the great man’s phrasing and feel for the songs, especially on the swing of Spanish Harlem, and is affectingly lovelorn on It’s Only Make Believe and Donna. It’s all done surprisingly straight and faithfully, with Cooper Clarke and Cornwell full of respect for the songs they’re covering. Mark Edwards

Two Door Cinema Club – Gameshow: Pow! Two Door Cinema Club are back with their first new music for three years, and first album for four. So what could we expect from album number three? Danceable? Check. Catchy? Check. Great lyrics? Check. Not only this, but this dreamy album from the Northern Irish trio provides boppable hit after hit, from single Are We Ready? (Wreck) and title track Gameshow, to Je Viens De La. Variety comes from the experimental, but accessible synthy layered sounds in addition to Two Door’s trademark zany pop rock, while the delicious songwriting produces memorable catchphrases. The record takes you on an individual journey with Alex Trimble’s sublime vocals, and you will be unable to resist the force of Two Door’s ability to make you move. Becky Barnes

A Finzi - Anthology:Living in Harrogate and taught composition by Edward Bairstow at York Minster, Gerald Finzi’s young life was punctuated by the death of those nearest and deepest to him, a sadness that coloured a wealth of pastoral music. Here on eight Naxos discs we have his major works, including cello and clarinet concertos; two song cycles with orchestra; choral pieces, and many songs with piano. Featuring the singers Roderick Williams and James Gilchrist; cellist Tim Hugh; the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia, these excellent studio recordings, made over the last ten years, come in an attractive boxed set with detailed programme notes, and are offered in the super-budget price category. David Denton