Latest CD releases reviewed

PATRICK WOLF

The Bachelor Bloody Chamber ****

Patrick Wolf has always been an unusual sort. From London via Cork, his peculiar modus operandi is in vigorous operation on his incredible fourth album, which was financed by fans via the Bandstocks website after he'd split from Universal. That fact aside, the 25-year-old has made the album of his career, fusing baroque pop with pagan folk and hiccoughing electronica beats, as well as generous dashes of apocalyptic instrumentation. Actress Tilda Swinton lends her voice to the dashing goth-pop of Oblivion, while acclaimed folk musician Eliza Carthy adds goosebumpy atmosphere to the title track - but this is Wolf's beast alone. His extraordinary vision for splintering songs into mini-operas is perhaps best demonstrated on the chilling, synth-loaded Count of Casualty. Part two of this bipartite set, The Conquerer,is due for release next year. www.patrickwolf.com LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks: The Bachelor, Count of Casualty

THE VERONICAS

Hook Me Up Sire **

Having made a big impression in Australia, the second album from twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso is unleashed on these shores two years after its initial release. The pair may name themselves after the rebellious misfit from the film Heathers, but musically, they're exceptionally compliant. Raunchy electropop is the order of the day, but if the over-produced studio trickery and constant waves of synths occasionally dazzle, their rudimentary lyrical well (heartbreak, boys, angst) is exasperatingly plumbed to the driest depths. The Madonna-style electro grime of Hook Me Upis undoubtedly a hit-in-waiting, and their unsubtle nods to Avril Lavigne ( Goodbye To You) and Kelly Clarkson ( Revenge Is Sweet) will certainly draw in the punters – but there's no real ingenuity or imagination on display here. www.theveronicas.com LAUREN MURPHY

Download tracks : Hook Me Up, Popular

YONLU

A Society In Which No Tear Is Shed Is Inconceivably Mediocre Luaka Bop ****

Yonlu is Vinicius Gageiro Marques, a 16-year-old from Porto Alegre who took his own life in 2006, but left a computer full of enchanting, melancholic songs which David Byrne’s Luaka Bop have turned into this alluring album. Yonlu was just starting out; and these songs were produced in his bedroom with acoustic guitar and lo-fi electronics over the course of three years, but they show staggering potential. Combining the delicate, dark folk of a Nick Drake or Elliott Smith, the sweet romanticism of Tropicália and fado and the experimental gusto of early Beck, songs such as his own

I Know What It's Likeand a spectral version of Vitor Ramils Estrela, Estrelacome across as bittersweet postcards from the edge. The saddest thing of all is imagining what Yonlu could have become. www.yonlu.com JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: I Know What It's Like, Estrela Estrela