Euros Childs - Cheer Gone

Presumably sick of the comparisons of his previous band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci to the Super Furry Animals, Welsh crooner Euros Childs has quietly dropped the acoustic psychedelia that characterised his old outfit and instead opted for the sanctity and security of Nashville. With a band completely at home with both folksy bluegrass and steel guitar, Childs has recorded an album of rustic folk songs that conjure up images of small town Americana located in rural Wales - his own peculiar nasal singing style adding a touch of Ray Davies and Elvis Costello to some traditional country-style arrangements. Even the songs that hint at the darker underbelly of country music (Farm Hand Murder) are neutralised of any real malice by the warmth of the vocal delivery, and Childs' absolutely sparkles on the hymn-like Always Thinking of Her. Proving that folk is one of the most universal of genres, Euros Child is doing his best to prove that Americans don't have a monopoly on twee. [Ewen Millar]