Amy MacDonald: 'This Is The Life'

What is it about Scottish singer-songwriters at the moment? KT Tunstall and Paolo Nutini are two of British music's greatest success stories of recent years, and now Amy MacDonald is clamouring at their suede-swathed heels: the 20-year-old guitar-strummer from Glasgow stormed to number two with her debut album in August. Before you ask – no, she's not related to those McDonald Brothers from The X Factor.

'This Is The Life', the title track from that debut disc, is a sprightly folk-pop ditty with a pleasing whiff of the 'Moonlight Shadow' to it. Though its undulating, gently insistent melody is undeniably impressive, it's MacDonald's dark, mysterious Celtic vocals that suggest she could have a long-term career ahead of her. Fair-weather Scots – don't hang up your kilts just yet.