Cherry Ghost: '4 AM'

Cherry Ghost are the sort of band that you'd just love to wrap in a warm towel, snuggle up with by the fireplace in front of the soaps and eat a whole box of Maltesers alongside. Unassuming, hype-free and sweeter than chocolate cake coated in cream, custard and hundreds 'n' thousands. Quite unlike anything else around at the moment - although hints of Richard Hawley, Turin Brakes and the faintest whiff of Johnny Cash do seep from the track - Cherry Ghost are slowly forging a strong cult following, and after bashing into the top ten with debut album Thirst For Romance, might now start troubling the singles market with newie '4 AM'.

'4 AM' sees Simon Aldred's bluesy, maudlin vocals carry a lilting acoustic guitar across a lush bouncing melody that bobs up and down with a cheeky frequency. If you're a fan of Richard Hawley's sweeping, Sinatra-esque take on grim Northern life then Cherry Ghost should be right up your alleyway, with Aldred replacing the Sheffieldian's gritty observations of urban decay with a more sentimental lyrical patter. Sure to be troubling a Mercury judge near you in the very near future, enjoy this rare delight now, before all your mates start claiming they heard of him first.