Young artist Maz Totterdell is creating quite a stir in the music scene recently. After her initial success by getting the opportunity to feature on BBC Radio 2 and also 6 Music, her debut album Sweep is out on May 28th 2012, and it looks set to shoot the young singer/songwriter to stardom. At just 15 years old, featuring on national radio, and writing and releasing a complete album is an impressive feat for someone so young, but judging from the quality of album it seems like this is just the beginning for the young starlet.

The joy of discovering Sam Sallon is that you have discovered him, relatively unknown at the moment, Sam’s debut album ‘One for the Road’ is due out in 2012 and is a burgeoning record full of unadulterated traditional singer / songwriter material that will please those enjoying the mellow acoustic music scene.

Defined by The Troubadour as a ‘powerfully melodic and intelligent, lyrically diverse and thought-provoking singer-songwriter’, great things were to be expected from my first listen of Pete Christie. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. Residing in the Isle of Purbeck near Bournemouth, Christie is a true ambassador of the genres of Folk and Traditional music, writing honest and sincere lyrics which are lost with many of today’s modern singer songwriters.

The Lucky Face is a one-man outfit made up of Tim Mullineux  - a charismatic, shaggy-haired gentleman who could easily rival the rock persona of Pete Doherty and the charming crooner factor of Paolo Nutini.  Originally a band, The Lucky Face had quite a following in their hometown of Lancaster but they then split and Tim carried on performing under the name.

Songdog consist of award-winning playwright Lyndon Morgan, fellow Welshman Karl Woodward, and Scottish drummer Dave Paterson. Their 2005 album ‘The Time of Summer Lightning’ and 2008’s ‘A Wretched Sinner’s Song’ received some impressive reviews and plays on both Jonathan Ross (Radio 2) and John Kennedy’s (XFM) radio shows. Beyond this, Bruce Springsteen has announced his admiration for the group, having used their track ‘Day of Armageddon’ on his last European tour. All signs thus far are looking promising.

Taking themselves back to their roots, and grasping onto what made Turin Brakes stir up a fuss in the first place.

SMALL TOWN EYES is the debut album from Justin Sandercoe, a man who made his name through YouTube by creating free guitar video sessions that attracted up to 50 million hits. He also taught artists such as Katie Melua and Kathy Dennis, and even toured with Katie on her European dates, quite an impressive resume then. So, in releasing a self penned album of 14 tracks, Justin has decided to turn the spotlight on himself, and become the main attraction, but can he pull it off?

I’m a bit fed up with all this snow malarkey; to be honest it’s only fun if you’re a kid or a stressed out teacher hoping for a sneaky day off, so what I need is some heart warming music to listen to whilst sitting by the fire and sipping on mulled wine. Thankfully DEMONS AND DOUBTERS, a 5 track EP by singer songwriter Ian Parker has arrived to help me with my cold winter nights, now all I need is a dog to stroke and some fluffy slippers.

‘Heart and Soul’ is the fifth record from Nelson King; an independent acoustic solo artist who wrote and produced this EP. The album features ten tracks. The first track ‘All The Madmen’ speaks about ‘us’ and ‘them’ in the world and questions perception alongside a beautiful acoustic strum. Nelson voice is relaxed and drags making the track a little more alternative folk. ‘Life’ is the second track on the album and takes a slower pace than the first. The guitars are subtler and so are King’s vocals. The lyrics speak about a surrealist vision of life and how unexpected it can be. Both the acoustic and electric guitar mixed in this track make a great composition. The third track ‘Things You Say’ is a meatier track with a better quality recording of King’s vocals and a predominant electric guitar to and acoustic strum. ‘Mystified’, is the fourth track, a romanticised track about being drawn to someone and captured by someone without knowing why. Once again the track balances an acoustic and electric strum to Nelson’s steady vocals. The fifth track ‘Moment’, takes on a more country acoustic sound. The lyrics speak about enjoying a ‘moment’ at a simple time and a place, something that we usually take for granted.

The sixth track ‘Why’ is a song that sounds like it could be a first single, it’s very generic to a pop/country sound and there are some electronic tones in Nelson’s voice. It’s catchy and the rhythm is very steady. The lyrics are philosophical, full of wonder and intrigue. This is one of the tracks I took an automatic liking to, very easy listening. The seventh track ‘Lonely Spies’ is about desensitisation and being alone, King’s voice is very faint and metaphorical. The sound has a dominant acoustic strum that rarely changes. The eighth track ‘ This Could Be Heaven’ speaks about a life and its unexpected paths, it’s about a relationship that can take many turns. King plays a lot with perception in this song. The guitars are once again layered with a constant acoustic strum to electric rifts. In the ninth track ‘Colour Me’ King’s voice is a little hard to make out over the electric guitar but becomes louder in the chorus. The electric guitar is key in this composition and the acoustic guitar is very subtle. This track is not very clear and hard to get lost in because of the lack of clarity in King’s vocals. The last track ‘For You’ is another reverts to King’s acoustic strumming folk sound. His vocals suit this style better as they are much clearer and his lyrics can be heard and felt. The lyrics are a beautiful dedication to someone, very repetitive but catchy and simple.

The album has a nice acoustic sound that is very relaxing. King writes in a metaphorical tone about life and his experiences. His vocals aren’t very strong but have a light husky tone reminiscent of a folk or more country sound but rarely differ or experiment in any track. The EP is a relaxing monotone album with a consistent sound. If you like acoustic folk with a British country twang and mystified lyrics about everyday life King’s album is perfect.