Clare Teal -- Don't Talk

She may be from Farnhill but jazz singer Clare takes us on a bewitching tour of the world on her irresistible fourth album.

You could be in London, New York or Rome, most likely in a sophisticated 1960s movie, as she proves to you that her new stardom is warranted.

Vocally she doesn't need the tiresome aerobatics of Jamie Cullam or the gravel-mouthed realism of Diane Krall, and she steers away from the laid-back tedium of Norah Jones.

Instead the voice is clear and classy and quite determined to enjoy itself, giving us all that jazz along with enough soul to send Joss Stone back to school.

Clare's songs are again a mix of favourite oldies and cracking originals, not a misfire among them, taking in pop, big band and samba but possessing a distinctive style.

Songs by the likes of Dusty Springfield rub shoulders with her own ballads and standards like Mellow Tone, Mood Indigo and The Music Goes Round and Round.

Don't Talk is a big album, appealing to mainstream listeners as well as jazz fans, and it deserves to throw Katie Mellua off her piano stool.

David Knights

Green Day -- American Idiot

Few bands can pull it off, but four years since their last studio album and ten since they rose to fame with Dookie, Green Day have produced a sensational rock opera that is surely their best album yet.

Chronicling one man's disillusionment under George Bush's war on terror administration, American Idiot is a beautifully-crafted concept album including two five-part mini epics, Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming.

That crossing of genres evident on those two songs is used across the album -- from the outset on the politically-charged title track -- to the tender When September Ends, and especially on the sensational Extraordinary Girl.

After waiting so long it won't be just fans of Green Day who will be clamouring for this modern masterpiece.

Paul Cook

Elvis Costello and The Imposters -- The Delivery Man

The Delivery Man is an eclectic collection of songs from the rhythm and blues of Bedlam, toe tapping pop of Monkey Man to the country flavoured Country Darkness and Heart Shaped Bruise.

Lucinda Williams lends her vocal talents to There's A Story In Your Voice and Emmylou Harris joins Costello on Heart Shaped Bruise and the ballads Nothing Clings Like Ivy and The Scarlet Tide.

She's Pulling Out The Pin shows how Costello has lost none of his lyrical wit when it comes to matters of the heart while Button Your Lip and Needle Time show that he's lost none of his anger.

While the career peak of Armed Forces is well behind him, The Delivery Man remains yet another accomplished Costello recording.

Graham Scaife