Singer-songwriter John Amor (pictured) steps into the limelight as a solo artist with an album called Unknown Soldier, released on the Boma label. Amor, probably best-known for a previous incarnation with the highly respected Wiltshire-based blues band The Hoax, gets to showcase his impressive songwriting skills with a variety of guest artists - including Robert Plant and Portishead drummer Clive Deamer, who performs as part of Plant's band, the Strange Sensation. No slouch on the guitar, Amor shows his blues roots on several tracks, but intelligent lyrics and expansive soundscapes created by producer Stephen Evans (who has also worked with Plant and Thea Gilmore) makes Unknown Soldier much more than just another British R&B workout. In these days when fake melancholy seems to be the order of the day, it is great to hear a British male singer/songwriter express himself with such verve and guts. Amor peforms at the Future of the Blues festival in Bristol this weekend. A taster single, The Devil's Back Yard, is out next week, but you will have to wait until October for the album.

The Cloud Room - who take their name from a Prohibition-era club at the top of New York's Chrysler Building - are the latest American indie-import to be feted by those 'in the know'. Musically diverse, the band obviously have stadiums on their mind with a couple of big anthems featuring large on their self-titled UK debut album released on A&G records. The opening track of the album, Sunset Song, has echoes of the Killers, although the band themselves cite David Bowie and Sonic Youth among an eclectic list of influences. You may already have heard the band without appreciating it as the poppiest track on the album, the singalong Hey Now Now, has been snapped up by Pepsi to accompany a TV ad featuring Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho. I would have liked to review UB40 frontman Ali Campbell's new album, Running Free, but his label has seen fit to only release a disc with shortened versions of songs on it. So the review has been likewise curtailed.