Emma Pollock - Watch The Fireworks

With her crisis of confidence seemingly abated, former Delgado Emma Pollock has delivered here an assured solo debut. Watch The Fireworks ripples with satisfying pop hooks, energetic anthems and typically emotive lyrics. There may be moments when you'd be forgiven for thinking you were listening to vintage Delgados, particularly in Paper and Glue's re-birth of Pull The Wires From The Walls, however, it's rarely in the derivative way that some of her band's later work was. Pollock sounds confident enough to no longer attempt to retread the guitar-pop perfection that was The Great Eastern. Two tracks in particular, Limbs and Fortune, find her stretching beyond such confines, with more reserved, yet equally beautiful songs. Furthermore, The Optimist will certainly vie for a place as one of her finest songs yet. This might not set the fickle music world on fire, but it's more than enough to allay any future concerns the modern Scottish minstrel may have. [Darren Carle]