Willy Mason - If the Ocean Gets Rough

2004's Where the Humans Eat - recorded when Mason was just 19 years of age - was a startling debut album by any standards, and so our expectations were high for this release. Initial listens seem somewhat underwhelming - Mason's songwriting seems weighed down by the additional instrumentation and his infectious spirit and verve seem to have been replaced with a more world-weary, measured delivery. Persevere, however, and this record will slowly reveal its true colours. These tracks may lack the bristle and swagger of his previous work but each song here unfolds into something utterly beguiling, eloquent and quietly powerful. Quite simply, there's only a handful of folk writing songs of this quality right now. Simple Town, for example, is a perfectly crafted, lilting masterpiece that manages to get political and still make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. And he's still only 22. Incredible. [Jay Shukla]