The Beachcomber's Windowsill 4AD ****

When a first single lands you on both Later . . . with Jools Hollandand the BBC's Sound of 2010 shortlist, a certain amount of expectation builds for debut album. Zorbingwas one of 2009's best tracks, and regurgitating its foot-tapping charm would have been easy (and obvious) to do. Thankfully, there's a lot more to this four- piece and, as the title suggests, the album is a murky flotsam

of folk and pop: hummable choruses, poetic stories shared over a pint and, at the centre, Brian Briggs’s startling voice. At times it’s choirboy earnest; at others it has a lived-in gravity that suits the frequently pensive mood. There are songs about bird-watching (ornithology, not women), love and youth, vans and optimism. Delivered via harmonies and full of feeling, Stornoway sound like old hands at writing memorable songs that mean something. See myspace.com/stornoway

Download Tracks: Fuel Up, Zorbing, Here Comes the Blackout!