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Annie Lovell is a talented young singer/songwriter hailing from London. When she's not catching up on re-runs of the X-Files she enjoys baking delicious crumbles (the fruit may vary).

Already one of Worcester's most well known singer-songwriters, Rich Clarke had been seeking to broaden his music away from his familiar folk guitar structures, towards something more distinctive. Playing first with drummer Dan Bramhall, then adding bassist Luke Elliott, together they worked towards a modern sound: founded in the limitations of an acoustic trio, but drawing on the rhythms of glitchy electronica, to add something mechanical but played with the warmth and feeling of human musicians.

Amy’s fourth album, Grow to Catch the Wind (2011), takes her mul­ti­lay­ered sound to new lev­els. A string quar­tet, lay­ered har­monies, and howl­ing cello solos all join with her sig­na­ture soar­ing vocals, piano and gui­tar. Amy’s lyri­cal con­fes­sions pierce through the sonic com­plex­ity, per­haps more than ever. The album, her most brave and hon­est work yet, is the cul­mi­na­tion of sev­eral years of soul-searching, a cycle of death and rebirth.

Evoking favourably the sunshine indie-pop of bands like Sloan, this mixes up 60's sounds, adds a slight country lilt and then modernises it into concentrated catchiness and cannily crafted songs just in time for a long hot summer.

Sunstack Jones on Last.fm.