‘Starting Over Again’ is the name of the record and where Norwegian artist Ida Jenshus currently finds herself. With a great desire to change her working habits after three successful albums and winner of three Spellemannpriser (Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy) for her creative endeavours, Ida Jenshus set out on a path of new discovery. Retaining the services of producer Kåre Vestrheim was the only remainder of her past, as Ida Jenshus set to task the songs for ‘Starting Over Again’. The precursor to this latest long player from Ida Jenshus was last year’s ‘Let It Go’ EP that contained the audacious ‘Shallow River’ as it played out over three segments. With this latest album, Ida Jenshus continues where the former EP left off, with songs stretching over the six minute mark, barring a couple of exceptions, and packed with great details. Take for example the title track with its Joni Mitchell inspired vocals set to a delicate rhythm that gradually adds more flesh to its bones as the song progresses via harmonica and atmospheric sounding guitars. ‘Set Us Free’ is blessed with more fine vocals and takes a more direct approach musically, compared to the drawn out nature of quite lengthy ‘Changes / What Is Time?’ for example. Never an easy task the process of reinvention, but Ida Jenshus appears to have cracked it with her latest album ‘Starting Over Again’.

The cover notes that accompanied debut solo release from Finland’s Matthau Mikojan left an interesting trail and one that requires further investigation. Having seen the demise of his previous band and without a record deal, the decision to set up shop and write and record the latest set of songs formulating in his mind was a no brainer really. The difficulty came when, despite a wealth of experience behind him as a musician, the realisation dawned that there was a dearth of experience when it came to the actual recording process. Rather than let panic ensue, Matthau Mikojan set the wheels in motion by means of studying every available textbook, trawling the internet for any appropriate advice, and observing studio engineers at work in order to learn the ropes as far as recording goes. Fast forward to the present and the end result is ‘Her Foreign Language’; thirteen songs that have received the closest attention to detail after many hours of hard graft and without much daylight to speak of. The clues can loosely be deciphered in some of the song titles regarding the painstaking recording process Matthau Mikojan has undergone, whether it’s ‘Hours Overdue’, ‘Good Nights, Bad Mornings’ or ‘Gold & Silver’. While strong comparisons with Bowie can be heard throughout ‘Her Foreign Language’, there are also traces of the Rolling Stones bluesy rock ‘n’ roll with ‘No Preference’ and ‘Hours Overdue’ being two obvious candidates. The amps are turned down during the reflective and largely acoustic ‘You’, which leads to greater self-examination once the gothic tones of ‘Presence’ makes itself known via an enthralling vocal and skeletal guitar sound. While there is a preference for the slight outer space oddities of ‘Wrapped’, for example, over the more straight bluesy rock which seems to outnumber the former, ‘Her Foreign Language’ is to be exalted for its courage to follow its own convictions and come out the other side with a more than palatable album.

The Dream Brother project has finally become a reality with the release of the band’s self-titled debut album. What began in 2008 has come to fruition in 2015 with a ten-track long player of predominantly American inspired alternative rock songs. There’s a definite pinch of Nirvana added to the rather excellent opener ‘Lost Yourself’, which is abrasive one moment and smooth the next once the melodic pop of its chorus sets in. A fine start that simply builds further with the tight and driving rhythm of ‘Black Leaves’, that can be compartmentalised as a close relation of Jimmy Eat World and ditto the acoustic indie rock of ‘Halfway’ with singer Samuel Sjöman trying his hardest to convince himself that there might be a spark left in a recent relationship breakup, “I still believe in you, I still believe, But we don’t care anymore because we don’t speak anymore” and it makes for compelling listening. There is a sense of claustrophobia given to ‘The Way Out’ via its lyrics, but also the manner in which the song builds on various layers only to find itself returning to the start . The sense of frustration boils over into the pared back sound and confessional ‘LoveHateLove’ that climaxes nicely with a bout of tub-thumping, handclaps and group vocals. Despite ‘Dream Brother’, being a tad derivative in places – the granular yet catchy indie pop of ‘The One’ being such an example – one can only gaze in admiration for a vision fully realised and one that contains enough reasons to return to this debut album for some considerable time yet.

It’s been a couple of years since Alfred Hall’s ‘Wilderness’, but with latest single ‘The King of Cape’ it’s like the duo haven’t been away. Picking up where their debut album left off, the song writing partnership of Bjørn Tveit (vocals/guitar) and Thomas Klær (guitar) reintroduce themselves with their distinctive sound of hushed vocals backed with an uplifting melody as ‘The King of Cape’ is the equivalent of daylight slowly revealing itself of a morning before making its full entrance and setting the day in motion. Having developed their profile that now extends outside of their native Norway, primarily as a result of the EP ‘Alfred Hall’ being released in 2014 internationally, as well as productive campaigns with Netflix and Cerveza Pacifico Clara respectively, the next step for Alfred Hall is an intriguing one because while ‘The King of Cape’ is a delightful reminder of the glorious sounds of their debut album, the real challenge will be to see if the duo can develop their sound to the next level rather than simply reduplicating their previous long player. It is sincerely hoped that the boys from Drammen manage to pull off the former option.

Hailing from Australia, The Preatures has been making great strides having supported the Rolling Stones last year, as well as writing and recording their debut album. Having two well-received EPs to their name, it was time for this Ozzie five piece to set their collective ideas to a full-length record. With producer Jim Eno from Texas rock band Spoon jumping on board to guide The Preatures through their first album, this debut was recorded at Public Hi Fi studio in Austin, Texas and then finalised at Doldrums Studio in Surry Hills with the band’s own Jack Moffitt (guitar) co-producing. The end result is ‘Blue Planet Eyes’; an album that sets pop music as its central source but, at the same time, possesses shades of dance music and indie guitar rock. It’s a bold manoeuvre that starts ‘Blue Planet Eyes’ with, in fact, the album’s title track as it’s more of an instrumental composition, gliding on a wave of mild electronics and offering the slightest of vocals from Izzi Manfredi. The Preatures personality really comes out from its hiding place once ‘Somebody’s Talking’ bounces into view and proves to be utterly irresistible with its 80s classic pop feel; the kind of which the likes of Blondie used to produce during the early part of that decade. There’s a bit of a funk groove accompanying ‘Is This How You Feel’, with Izzi Manfredi showing the ranges of her vocal to great effect which, again, takes a slight deviation once the mild rock influences of ‘Ordinary’ take a hold. It remains true that ‘Blue Planet Eyes’ embraces a variety of influences whether a stirring ballad via ‘Two Tone Melody’ or darkened, distorted pop of ‘Rock And Roll Rave’. Despite such diversity, the lines never become blurred as to its overall intentions as The Preatures remain rooted in pop music, but one that lends itself to other influences, making this nothing short of an absorbing debut album.

Having been the recipient of several awards, as well as a Spellemann (Norwegian Grammy) nomination back in 2010 for her vocal duties with eclectic sounding Norwegian outfit Pelbo, Ine Hoem takes the plunge into the deep end by setting out her own stall with solo album ‘Angerville’. With this being a first album for vocalist Ine Hoem, her debut release actually came in the form of an EP by the name of ‘The Island’. This was the step in a new direction that saw Ine Hoem adopt a pop approach, which proved a success as the EP received heavy rotation on the nation’s radio networks and a further award as winner of ‘Musikkprisen’ at Ocean Sound Recordings. Once momentum had gathered, Ine Hoem set to task writing and recording the songs for ‘Angerville’, with additional production duties coming by way of up-and-coming producer Kristoffer Bonsaksen. With the first sign of life arriving last autumn with the single ‘This Year’, Ine Hoem immediately captured the imagination with her unforced vocals and lyrics purporting to achieve a longlist of ‘to-do’s’ when the reality of such dreams remains on far safer grounds. Ine Hoem manages to retain much attention via her pristine vocals; exemplified by the heavenly introduction to ‘Caroline’ which proceeds to carry the rest of the song and entire contents of ‘Angerville’ in similar fashion. Elsewhere, ‘Lost Lovers’ is a relatively pared-back composition and has the feel of a first-person narrative given the natural qualities of the vocals helping to piece together the initial steps of a relationship before its ultimate demise, which comes as no surprise considering its bold pronouncement of not feeling the ‘love’ for Bob Dylan! There is time for reflection with the joyful sounding ‘When We Were Young’, but is let down slightly by the twee narrative. Such a discrepancy is soon amended by the fragile and honest admissions of ‘I Will Follow’ only to be outdone (just) by the sublime ‘When We Collide’, which is equally sincere in its emotions only it’s the thorny opposite in terms of its predecessor. Engaging, heartfelt and gifted with a vocal of divine qualities, Ine Hoem will have no problems making a name for herself along this solo route just as long as she can continue to stave off the feelings of loneliness that seem to be impregnating ‘Angerville’ at nearly every turn.