Ben Marwood – ‘Hold Your Breath’ / Heartwear Process – ‘Swallow My Tooth’ (Velocity) Released 29/01/07

According to the press release, Ben Marwood’s track “sits you down, lights a candle and summons angels to pour warm sweet & sour sauce into your ears”, so far, so pretentious. On the first listen, there is no sign of divine beings, candles or condiments, just a fairly monotonous acoustic melody, cut through with some lovelorn lyrics and…yawn.

On the flip side, an altogether more appealing storm is brewing. Short and snappy, like a distilled and more raucous Larrikin Love, Heartwear Process are a much tastier prospect. Apparently they work on the premise that no two songs will sound the same, but if they have any more blues-stompers like this then they are on to a winner.