Welcome To The Room... Josephine

Poor Josephine Oniyama is half a decade too late for the 60s soul trend - Amy Winehouse is dead, Duffy has disappeared into obscurity and even Mark Ronson has ditched the brass and emigrated to the modern world. Yet, the smoothness of her voice is reminicent of Rumer, and her sound a close relative of Ren Harvieu - both of whom enjoyed top 10 success last year, so perhaps all is not lost.

Singing by her first name alone, Josephine hasn't so much been hotly-tipped as luke-warmedly acknowledged. There's no wave of hype, no big budget promotion - even the delightfully simple video for new single Portrait has less than 5,000 views. The track may at first seem unremarkable, but it is in fact deceptively catchy and the call-backs in the verses add a sense of cosiness to proceedings. 

These days it's hard to get noticed without being endorsed by the BBC Sound of... competition, or having a BRITs Critics' Choice Award slung at you - but that's not to say she isn't worthy of a second listen.  The confident swagger of What A Day, sounding instantly familiar, recalls early Amy Macdonald, and in a world full of wailers such as Emeli Sandé, Josephine's breezy tunes are a breath of fresh oxygen.

Both tracks are taken from her upcoming debut album, also titled Portrait (naturally), which without any fanfare could easily go unnoticed like the unfortunate Candie Payne when she threw out an album during the heady days of 19602007. Still, Josephine is currently on tour with Paloma Faith, so fingers crossed that Radio 2 will snap her up at some point.

Chvrches | Recover

Glaswegian do-it-yourself outfit Chvrches automatically score points for their old-fashioned U, which was last seen on a Victorian headstone near you. Unsurprisingly, their alphabetic symbolism matches the gothic synthpop of their sound - they make the kind of downbeat 80s balladry that Hurts, in their Coldplay/Take That mimicry, neglected to include on their latest outing. 

Lead singer Lauren Mayberry's imploring, girlish vocals may take some time to get used to, as they are literally soaking in her native accent (think the incomprehensibility of Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser meets the shrillness of Altered Images' Claire Grogan). It doesn't help that lyrics on their new single Recover (from the EP of the same name), are sung in a stop-start fashion to compliment the juddering, Dan Black-esque GarageBand production. Stick with it though - once you work out what she's actually singing, it proves to be quite affecting:

Recover is out on the 25th of March - by which time everyone will be calling it Recouer because of that pesky v. But wait! Recouer is also a word that is, bizarrely, an archaic version of the word recover. Huzzah!   

Welcome To The Room... Wild Belle

Pretty sure I've seen him in a Kooples ad. 

With just 2 singles released, new sibling duo Wild Belle are already proving to be masters of modern rocksteady. Think Santigold using the same vintage filter employed by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour and Alice Gold - the result is a pair of head-naggingly breezy hot jams.

Chicagoan siblings Natalie and Elliot Bergman mix the former's decadent vocals with the latter's bold saxophone, evoking a live quality in their recordings; best showcased on the strutting first track It's Too Late:

The pair have recently enjoyed exposure from having new single Keep You featured in the surprise hit film Pitch Perfect. Creepy Turn Of The Screw-style barrier crossing in the video aside, it's a memorable tune of  disappointment akin to original rocksteady pioneer Dawn Penn's You Don't Love Me (No No No).

There's something endearing in the simplicity of their lyrics - it's clear that they're not trying to impress you, and that's what's so impressive. The lack of breakdown or big chorus makes them the definition of a grower, and as you can hear, they'd be the perfect accompaniment to long Summer evenings.

Unfortunately, Wild Belle's debut album Isles is due out in March, so grab the parasols and flip flops and let's have a barbeque in the rain.

Alison Moyet | Changeling

It's been 6 years since Alison Moyet's last album, and despite now being in her 50s she's looking younger than ever. She's sounding younger than ever too, with new track Changeling containing hints of a No Doubt-esque rhythm mixed with the darker diversions of fellow 80s survivors Depeche Mode. 

Moyet's voice is a lot smoother than usual here, as she adopts a post-Red Shoes Kate Bush purr to tackle the mundanity of commuter traffic in the verses, before whipping out some unexpected high notes in the spellbinding chorus. With a fresher vibe and Guy Sigsworth taking care of production, upcoming 8th set The Minutes promises to be something of a mature soirée - downstairs at Eric's. 

Welcome Back... Natalia Kills

Yorkshire's finest Natalia Kills' comeback single Controversy could not have been a better way to describe her career to date. After reinventing herself from TV show starlet and one-time rapper to so-called "darkpop" trendsetter, via allegations of being a budget Lady Gaga, her new alter ego came not without its fair share of criticism.

Despite support from big names such as Akon (producer on her "first" single Mirrors), and will.i.am (her mentor, and collaborator on Free), Kills - real name Natalia Cappuccini - became pop's newest laughing stock. Having moved to the States and adopted a faux American accent a la Joss Stone, her debut album Perfectionist flopped in the US and didn't even chart in her homeland.

Full of references to death, beauty and dollars, the plot wore thin quickly as it was a set full of as much filler as killer. Still, she had her online fanbase to fall back on, and what better way to hit back at your critics than by returning with a song that "isn't a song"?

That's right. When asked in an interview about what inspired Controversy, she replied: "It's not exactly a song... more of a list of everything fucked up with our generation... nothing is shocking or controversial any more". Well, she summed up her new single immaculately - it's neither shocking nor controversial, but without any of the mischievousness that makes similarly scathing Marina & The Diamonds so appealing.

Notwithstanding such desperate attempts at catching the zeitgeist, her delivery of The List is just too similar to Janelle Monae's Many Moons breakdown. Also - who gives a monkeys about the Kool-Aid? What is this, ghetto Alice In Wonderland?

Speaking of ghetto, there's also a whiff of the Lana Del Reys about her in that she also has a dubious, Verbalicious past. The problem here is that it's the only time she's come close to getting a hit (Don't Play Nice, #11 GB).

However, whilst Lana has been a Europe-wide smash, regardless of her insistence on being portrayed as a a poor little rich girl who grew up to be the "gangster Nancy Sinatra", Cappuccino has only had mild success in Germany and Austria.

It's no surprise, then, that newly-leaked track Problem apparently samples the distinctive hollers that pop up in many of Lana Del Rey's offerings.

It all reminds me of when Lady Gaga first came out, and she referred to her sound as "pop music that's meant for the Louvre". While it's just as arrogant a comment to make, the difference is that Gags has shown to have both mouth and trousers by having hit after hit. 

It's hard to say who Natalia is trying to be, but whoever it is, it doesn't seem to be herself. Brits don't like popstars who jump ship, and Americans are loving British acts right now - so why she keeps up the accent is a mystery.

Besides, this is the sort of music anyone could be making, and unless she pulls an identity out of the bag (or at least something more like Wonderland), she'll be adding her own career to that pathetic list of hers. Her 2nd album, Trouble, is due out later this year.

Caro Emerald | Tangled Up

Hollandic vintage singing sensation Caro Emerald returns with a preview of her upcoming new album The Shocking Miss Emerald. Tangled Up opens with oh-so-continental accordions, and like a sequel to Back It Up - the word "up" is not the only similarity here - it's a mix of retro jazz with a modern twist that made her debut album Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor such an unexpected winner. The formula has worn thin here; the record scratches a la Back It Up's "do it again" breakdown sound suddenly dated, and the shakin'/quakin' rhyme reappears.

Most peculiarly of all, she seems to have adopted a more Anglicised vocal, with stiff annunciation that spoils the smooth flow of the song. Perhaps it's a nod to her success in Great Britain, as her first album went platinum here. Either way, Sophie Ellis-Bextor ought to fear for her cut-glass crown. Whilst there's nothing at all Shocking about Emerald's comeback, her second set is likely to be the soundtrack to many a dinner party in 2013.

Revisiting: Sarah McLachlan | Touch

 Sepia Sarah models now-vintage Laura Ashley. 

This month's revisitation is to Canadian chanteuse Sarah McLachlan's debut Touch, released in 1988; her first and last album to experiment with an ethereal sound best described as Enya New-Agery meets the percussive leanings of Kate Bush, via the melodrama of Florence + The Machine. It's an album quite unlike anything else she recorded. For instance, the Medieval folk of opener Out Of The Shadows could not be further away from her later, more popular MOR style:

Though she continued to cover left-field topics, such as homewrecking on Adia and overdose on Angel, Touch was the final time the production matched her unconventional themes. Considering this is her only album not to be produced by Pierre Marchand, it's easy to see how she fell into the easy-listening world of Natalie Merchant and co from Solace onwards:

"There's no one left to finger"? Her 90s work is edgier than I remember. 

Touch not only features complex musical arrangements, but also has McLachlan at her most lyrically complex. Lines like "Through your eyes the strains of battle, like a brooding storm / You're up and down these pristine velvet walls like focus never forms", from Vox, trounces later attempts at poignancy and gives fellow obscure lyricist Stevie Nicks a run for her Coke money. 

These are adventures in McLachlan's teenage diaries. She was just 19 at the time of recording, yet the unabashed soul-searching is just what makes this album so affecting. The extended version of Vox (added to the re-issue in 1989), may sound like a dated 12" mix now, but the sassy, demanding outro is full of the spirit that's missing from much of her following works. Meanwhile on Steaming, she's less commanding, but just as captivating, as she waits for her lover's instruction:

There are the misfires. Uphill Battle is a wasteful instrumental, Strange World is a mundane track that doesn't feel fully realised, and closing track Ben's Song is a sparse, piano-led weepy that's lost without the driving instrumentation featured elsewhere. 

The aria of the mystic title track is what one might expect from Charlotte Church now that she's gone all alternative, and despite its over-the-top lyrics, Sad Clown is carried by climbing synths, whilst the male vocals on Trust's chorus compliment McLachlan's higher register as she tackles more heartache. 

Touch may be a smidgen too hysterical for those who are used to her safer, more ordinary offerings, but that's because it remains her most experimental and intriguing work to date. Now all she needs to do is ditch Pierre and re-hire Greg Reely - theatrical females are back in.