AtoZ

Initially marked out by his violin and virtuosic whistling, Bird has defied typecasting over a 20-year solo career thanks to his rampantly diverse musical interests and subtle shifts in his songwriting approach. Recorded live, Inside Problems is a rather less meticulous and more spirited band set that examines the questions that keep him awake at night, in ear-snagging songs shot through with ’70s country rock, chamber pop, Balkan and Appalachian folk and Tin Pan Alley eccentricity. It charms as a whole, but highlights include a sweetly urgent “Fixed Positions”, the easy-swinging, VU-like “The Night Before Your Birthday” and “Eight”, a soul-pop number in a Broken Bells style, with freeform violin crescendo.

SHARON O’CONNELL

Ahead of a much-delayed reunion tour, the Robinson brothers have tested out the new lineup in the studio with this six-track set of covers of songs from 1972, recorded for Amazon but also available physically. These can be divided into two types – down and dirty rock’n’roll epitomised by the separated-at-birth versions of “Rocks Off” and “The Slider” or ragged ballads like “You Wear It Well” and Little Feat’s “Easy To Slip”. In this company, the standout is the epic, wah-wah-infused take on “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, which sees band and singer on top form.

PETER WATTS

It’s not immediately apparent when Anton Newcombe transitioned from righteous firebrand into inspirational veteran, but the Berlin-based musician is now something of a spirit bearer for a self-contained alternative ethos. He’s a great songwriter and producer too, with Newcombe’s latest record with BJM – the 19th since 1995 – written and recorded in a burst of creativity. It starts with rousing rebel anthem “The Real”, and further highlights include the shoegaze drawl of “What’s In A Name?”, the jittery “Silenced” and the sinister growling surf of “You Think I’m Joking”.

PETER WATTS

Chastity Brown wrote the songs on her seventh album at home in South Minneapolis, not far from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020. That proximity to national tragedy and protest informs Sing To The Walls, especially the protest song “Golden”: “Why have I got to be angry?” she asks, her voice conveying a range of conflicting emotions. Brown coproduced the album and crafted a lush neo-soul palette that ranges from the orchestral swells of “Like The Sun” to the funk-rock rhythms of “Back Seat”. “I will sing to the walls”, she declares on the title track. “Hope it gets through”. Loud and clear.

STEPHEN DEUSNER

After his excellent album with Catherine Anne Davies, Captain Collaborator strikes gold once more – this time with actor Jessie Buckley, whose mellow, rich voice is a marvel. Introduced by Buckley’s manager, the pair sparked and quickly knocked out an album that sounds years in the maturing. Their touchstones were Nina Simone and Beth Gibbons, but the restless, rolling flow of these songs most often recalls Laura Marling’s recent work on the likes of the languid, then racing, “Babylon Days” or the rousing, stomping “Footnotes On The Map”. Buckley’s said she can’t imagine another album coming as easily as this one, but let’s hope she finds some more time in her schedule.

EMILY MACKAY

Sadness infuses everything Donegal singer Rosie Carney does – and yet it suits her. After her 2019 debut she sought solace from the pandemic with a fullalbum cover of Radiohead’s , released at the end of documents the 25-year-old’s mental-health struggles in the age of Instagram – “”, she sings on “Tidal Wave” – via a broadside of slick shoegaze and fuzzy folk, the likes of “Dad” and “Ceiling” longing for a cue in the next Sally Rooney TV adaptation.