Album: Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, (V2/Cooperative Music)

In spite of all their cool connections (singer Thomas Mars is the partner of Sofia Coppola and designer Hedi Slimane is a friend and fan), the term "guilty pleasure" still works best when describing Phoenix's music.

This is music that will appeal to anyone looking for a 21st-century Supertramp or Hall & Oates, and the first three tracks on album number four, in particular, are as good as anything they've ever done. You'd still never know they were French, a fact which – Air aside – is probably a good thing in pop terms.