Cosmo Jarvis - HUMASYOUHITCH/SONOFABITCH

Everyone loves to hate a gifted progeny, those savants who are way too successful, way too young. This charge could well be levied at 20 year old multi-instrumentalist Cosmo Jarvis, at least if this album is anything to go by. Initially, his breezy mix of English rap and huge choruses conjures up Mike Skinner, but the delicate layering of tracks that fill out of every inch of sound, combined with the autobiographical tongue-in-cheek lyrics, puts the texture of his music closer to Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue. And the lyrics are really great, with Jarvis complaining "I'm sorry that you think that one pound fifty was wasted/those were the best damn chips I ever tasted" (Mel's Song), while refusing to hit Britney Spears one more time, "because domestic violence is a crime"(Jessica Alba’s Number). Usually, pop songs referencing pop culture suggest a drought of ideas; in Jarvis's hands, they're helpful points of reference in a tornado of creativity. [Ewen Millar]