Emma Pollock - The Law of Large Numbers

After a couple of relatively quiet years Emma Pollock redefines herself on her second album, her solo career no longer relying upon residual goodwill earned during her time with the Delgados. Its exquisite centrepiece House on the Hill will be familiar to anyone who attended The Burns Unit’s inauguration at last year’s Celtic Connections festival, and it’s even more magisterial in this incarnation. The switch from tempestuous piano runs in the verse to stalled heartbreak in the chorus is potently powerful, the slightly unhinged air it generates packing emotional punch. Nothing else matches it, but some come close: after an opening piano overture the punchy Hug The Harbour leaps from the speakers, while the The Loop’s eerie waltz mesmerises. After the comparatively underwhelming Watch the Fireworks, The Law of Large Numbers proves solo Pollock just as exciting a prospect as her former band were at their peak a decade ago.[Chris Buckle]