With Amy going ga-ga and Britney gone doolally, the door is wide open for a new pop queen. Enter, from way leftfield, a Scottish rock chick with a distinctly folky edge. KT's last album, Eye to the Telescope, was a surprise hit and she's now maxing out on the opportunity to turn her initials into a global brand. She's glammed up on the cover, but inside she's still the canny rock chick, crafting a set of chrome-plated tunes that are polished enough for mainstream tastes but still have the sheen of authenticity about them. Tunstall still has her eye firmly on the song, and there's one here for everyone in her ever-widening audience. Current single Hold On replicates the carnival tempo of Suddenly I See, while I Don't Want You Now and Saving My Face upgrade the 1990s spirits of Cerys Matthews and Natalie Imbruglia, respectively. Acoustic tunes White Bird and Beauty of Uncertainty gather in sheafs from English and Californian folk to weave something very wearable.   KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks:Hopeless, Hold On, White Bird

It can't be easy trying to establish a solo identity when you're married to someone universally known as The Boss. And it's doubly hard when you are thought, by some, to be part of the Boss's E Street band only because of the union. None of this appears to worry Mrs Bruce Springsteen - this is an album of confidence, at ease with the world. On her last solo album three years ago, Scialfa mined a rootsy seam, showcasing her expressive voice and knack with a narrative, bitter-sweet lyric. She doesn't break the mould here, ramping up her love of old-fashioned street corner doo-wop (she started out as a busker) and pulling in a heap of friends and associates to increase the pick-up band, loose-limbed feel. The album is, in large part, boss. www.pattiscialfa.net   PAUL MCNAMEE

Download track:Rainy Day Man

Given that the audience for streamlined punk/pop shows no signs of dissipating, it's about time that Irish bands added their tuppenceworth to the pile. Louth- based The Keds have been around for more than a decade, hovering about the fringe, taking their time in making the right moves. They've always been a classy act, albeit with influences that bear the mark a tad too obviously; that said, unlike very few other Irish acts we can think of, The Keds have a nagging commitment to pursue the goods and beat the opposition at their own game. Released ahead of their appearance at the Hard Working Class Heroes event next month, this mighty fine album blends their influences (Blink 182, Reel Big Fish, Rancid) into a wholly satisfying noise. Big choruses, nifty guitar riffs, bang, bash, pow and whatever you're having yourself. www.myspace.com/thekeds   TONY CLAYTON-LEA

Download tracks:Shakedown, 27 Years, New Day

Bobby Kray should be proof that old-fashioned talent can prevail over today's manufactured fame- hungry wannabes. Four years ago, while working in a Brixton record store, two producers discovered him singing along to a Bob Marley record. After a couple of false starts the renowned dub- reggae artist Dennis Bovell was drafted in on production duties for this debut. Unfortunately, the results are far too pristine and polished, and the songs are stripped of any edge that Kray tries to convey through his lyrics. This is watered-down reggae, with hints of r'n'b and soul designed to appeal to the Pop Idol generation. Silly Games, Janet Kay's 1979 hit, is covered competently. Help Me and Take Me Back are perfect platforms for the young Londoner's vocal talents, but these cannot make up for the overall substandard quality of songwriting. www.bobbykray.com   BRIAN KEANE

Download tracks:Silly Games, Imagine That, Take Me Back

Last year, Tunng hit all the right bases with Comments of the Inner Chorus, an album where the collective's wistful, slow-motion electronic folk resonated with everyone who heard their songs. While Good Arrows does, on the face of it, have similar ambitions to cover the world in a soft-focus glow, the problems set in when you realise that the band's attempts at acoustic pop make them sound just like everyone else with their snouts in that same trough. All those unique swooning points that were once Tunng's and Tunng's alone have disappeared. Instead of ramshackle, pastoral, celestial charm, there are bolder colours and sketches that don't quite have the same appeal or magnetism as the folkier Bullets or Bricks. While Tunng undoubtedly have much still to offer for the future in the way of bull's-eyes, it must be hoped that they come back with much better quivers than this. www.tunng.co.uk   JIM CARROLL

Download tracks:Bricks, Hands

Meet the new masters and mistresses of stately pop. Hailing from Gothenburg, Little Dragon are fronted by vocalist Yakumi Nagano, who previously plied her trade on some of Koop's slo-mo atmospheric pop. Here, Nagano and her band set to creating the most gorgeous organic soul imaginable. There's a snap to Little Dragon's grooves, which lifts such tracks as Twice (especially when Nagano's voice comes in on the back of a fat, lush piano intro) and Test (warmed by a fuzzy blues heat) onto much higher ground. What's most interesting about Little Dragon is that, while we're dealing with very simple ingredients - all told, it's just heavy bass rumbles, lush piano, minor-key strings and that voice - the end result is so freewheeling and extraordinary. Prepare to dig this like an old soul record. www.myspace.com/your littledragon   JIM CARROLL

Download tracks:Twice, Scribbled Paper, After the Rain

This fabulous time capsule, subtitled "25 British Psychedelic Artyfacts from the EMI Vaults", highlights a peculiarly attuned sense of humour, an intriguing sense of decorum, and a loosening of the collective stiff- shirted attitude that defined British pop music from the early-to-mid 1960s. Insane Times includes obscure tracks from bands with fascinating back stories, bands that were either breeding grounds for later names (ELO's Jeff Lynne, Rolling Stones' guitarist Mick Taylor, King Crimson's Robert Fripp), or tip heaps for too many people to mention. The music is largely superb - psych freak-outs mixed with strange pop and off-kilter ballads from acts both well known (Kevin Ayers, The Hollies, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Syd Barrett) and forgotten (Mandrake Paddle Steamer, The Brain, The Lemon Tree, Herbal Mixture). www.zonophone.net    TONY CLAYTON-LEA

Download tracks:Kevin Ayers: Songs for Insane Times; The Idle Race: Hurry Up John; The Lemon Tree: William Chalker's Time Machine; Syd Barrett: No Good Trying