Latest releases reviewed

SARAH BORGES AND THE BROKEN SINGLES
Diamonds in the Dark
Sugar Hill
****

With a name like that, they've already made a down payment on my affections. And when they let it rip, as they frequently do on what is their second album, Ms Borges and her three partners in song come across as a band to savour. (We'll know more by the end of the weekend as the Broken Singles head to Kilkenny for the roots festival.) Sarah Borges may be Massachuttets born, but her heart belongs in a honkytonk that's as friendly to The Ramones as Willie Nelson. There's a brashness that betrays her love of bands such as LA new wavers X, while her softer side leans heavily on the steel guitars and broken heart tradition of country writing. That said, the ballads are the least successful, a little too leaden-footed, and Borges's delivery is not sufficiently nuanced. But when they let loose they kick up a storm. www.sarahborges.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: The Day We Met, Stop and Think It Over, Lonely Town of Love

CLAY WALKER
Fall
Curb
***

Clay Walker is some man. Diagnosed with MS 10 years ago, the Texan has gone on to build a substantial career with his blue-collar blend of country and conscience. For a "hat" act he is thoughtful, if not exactly deep. The music follows the well-worn Nashville formula: big mawkish ballads and soft country pop coloured by the occasional novelty song. In this instance, the opening Fore She Was Mama fits that bill when the child narrators find photographs of a young woman smoking a joint on the back of a Harley. It Ain't Pretty deals with the issue of homelessness, albeit without asking any of the obvious questions. But it's hard not to like his duet with veteran Freddy Fender on the classic Before the Next Teardrop Falls. All in all, Walker champions the average (there's even a song called Average Joe) in an average, unchallenging way. www.claywalker.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Fore She Was Mama. Before the Next Teardrop Falls