El Perro Del Mar: "Walk On By"

Glad to see that, after a quarter century, that Sade influence is finally starting to stick. There's a half buried 90's breakbeat low down in the mix, but otherwise "Walk On By" (not the Isaac Hayes song) could have been lifted straight off of that Stronger Than Pride LP.

El Perro Del Mar is the pseudonym of Swede Sarah Assbring, which itself just has to be a pseudonym, doesn't it?

Chrysta Bell: "Real Love"

Not the Jody Watley jam, regrettably, but Chrysta Bell does David Lynch proud on this sexed up torch song. Lynch produced her new album, This Train, and "Real Love" occupies that neutral zone between the kind of smoky, sultry jazz club acts Lynch filled his Twin Peaks universe with and the bluesy sleaze of Nick Cave's defunct Grinderman project. There's also a little similarity to Sahara Smith - a fellow Austinite - in there.

Jill Barber: "Tell Me"

Jill Barber doesn't seem to be getting the same mainstream accolades as the likes of Adele, Duffy, etc.  Not sure why that is, but it may have to do with her sticking to the jazzy side of soul/classic pop - slinky, seductive strings instead of swinging, seductive beats - or it could be that Barber initially started off as a pretty standard singer-songwriter type and is now seen as jumping on the bandwagon, but either way it's hard to listen to her new album, Mischievous Moon, all the way through and not feel like she's riding the crest of a creative wave not really seen in the genre since Norah Jones' initial breakthrough.