The latest CD releases reviewed

CATHAL COUGHLAN
Foburg Beneath Music ****

Songs that illustrate - and I quote from the press release - "an unreliable narrative of architectural plastic surgery" might not be perceived as close relatives of modern pop music. And, with the creator as famously confrontational as Cathal Coughlan (formerly of Microdisney and Fatima Mansions), one can understand the confusion. But Coughlan is essentially a pragmatist, which is why this album, his fourth solo work (derived from the Cork 2005 song-cycle Flannery's Mounted Head), overflows with the kind of pop nous that today's practitioners would sell their vocal cords for. Helped out by the ensemble Grand Necropolitan Sextet, this isn't "easy" or "accessible" pop in the common meaning of the words; Coughlan sings of topics far removed from music/download charts, his interest in the soft underbelly of certain areas of society still simmering with disdain. For all that, Foburg remains a quality piece of work, musically and lyrically eloquent, provocative and intrepid. www.cathalcoughlan.com  Tony Clayton-Lea

THE FRAMES
The Cost Plateau ****

A saga of seismic leaps (2001's For the Birds) and badly timed stumbles (2004's Burn the Maps), The Frames on record have been surprisingly slow learners when it comes to matching the emotional consistency of their live shows. But on The Cost, their sixth studio album, the band steadily find an equilibrium and momentum by simply having faith in their own songcraft. With songs this strong there's no need for embellishment or adornment. You can hear the band's confidence in their own abilities most clearly on the smouldering, slow-burning People Get Ready, where the dramatic breakdown is superbly in tune with Glen Hansard's striking vocal. Elsewhere, The Frames track life's pleasures and pains with a pleasing verve and a weather-beaten blast of bittersweet experience. The contagious melodic pinch of Rise and the gorgeous, simple lilt of Sad Songs are indicators of a new way of thinking in Frameland. The most intriguing Irish band of their generation still have everything to play for. www.theframes.ie Jim Carroll

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY
The Letting Go Domino ***

Some people have healing hands; Will Oldham, aka Palace, has a healing croak, and he uses it to therapeutic effect in this new album, recorded in the crisp, rejuvenating air of Reykjavik, Iceland. Although Oldham has been taken from his natural habitat somewhere between Appalachia and Haight-Ashbury, he still manages to evoke a rootsy feel and summon ghosts to rise up from Iceland's eerie landscape. The keening voice of Dawn McCarthy adds to the lonesome, arctic atmosphere - her quavering voice takes on the air of whalesong on Strange Form of Life and Then the Letting Go. The intuitive string arrangements lift up such songs as No Bad News, but brother Paul Oldham on bass, Jim White on drums and Emmett Kelly on guitar keep it all earthy and dirty. Love Comes to Me is a hopeful opening, but standout track Cursed Sleep is blessed with a beautiful, haunting vision. www.dominorecordco.com  Kevin Courtney

SCISSOR SISTERS
Ta-Dah Polydor ***

Since Jake Shears and his disco posse hit the big-time, it's been party party party all the way, with a non-stop parade of celebrity friends, freaks and fetishists. Inevitably, as Shears opines in the black-humoured Intermission, "happiness is getting you down". But when Scissor Sisters come down, they land with panache, and turn a death scene into a big Broadway production. I Don't Feel Like Dancing sets the wallflower pattern - it's like hearing Pete Doherty singing a song called No Drugs, Thanks - and She's My Man tells a gender-bending tale set among what could be the flotsam of post-Katrina New Orleans. Paul McCartney is a dreamlike paean to a pop giant, but Elton John is there in person; he's only the piano player, though - Shears does a good enough Reg impression on vocals. Existential disco this may be, but the tone is firmly tongue (and other organs) in cheek. www.scissorsisters.com  Kevin Courtney

BABYBIRD
Between My Ears there's nothing but Music Babybird/Chrysalis ****

He's been missing in chart action for quite some time now, but fortune thankfully favours the brave, and so Stephen Jones returns with yet another fine album of songs so acrid it would be a good idea to buy a nose clip before listening. He might be best known for You're Gorgeous (a Top 3 UK hit 10 years ago; most of his other single releases failed to crack the UK top 20), but on the evidence of the songs here his deft pop touches remain firmly intact. Songs such as Dive, The Little Things, Better than Love, Snails and Too Much come loaded with serious intent, musically and lyrically, while an intuitive sense of melody covers everything in a spruce shoeshine gloss. The best pop record this year from a chart has-been has just arrived and - yes, we simply have to say it - it's gorgeous. www.babybird.co.uk  Tony Clayton-Lea