Album: Johnny Flynn, A Larum (Vertigo)

Of all the boarding-school folkies who have been doing the rounds in London for the past few years, Johnny Flynn is the only one with any bite.

The former choirboy and sometime actor's debut album is a masterclass in pastoral British folk that pitches itself some way between Martin Carthy and Nick Drake, with a dash of Americana (but not too much). Riddled with banjos and fiddles, Flynn's quietly confident songwriting veers between the breezy ("The Box") and the funereal ("Hong Kong Cemetery"). All this, and he's (Robson and) Jerome Flynn's half-brother! Lovely stuff.

Pick of the Album: 'Leftovers': homelessness never sounded so sweet