Dubliner Cathy Davey has got the counterpoint between nasty and nice just right. The 25-year-old singer and writer, who appeared on Elbow's 'Grace Under Pressure', mines a seam of hardcore love and hate, then turns them into stylistically broad songs which reference PJ Harvey, Bjork and Kate Bush.

It's a good thing Davey kept the songs on her album 'Something Ilk' raw. In doing so, she has created a debut filled with spiky guitars, even spikier lyrics and a powerful exuberance. Strange noises hide underneath songs which are carried by both Davey's pop hooks and her remarkable voice.

Most artists are signed after endless months or years of touring. Not Davey. She performed four gigs in Dublin before retiring to the country to write 'Something Ilk'. Added to that, she refused to play live for the labels who courted her after hearing her compelling demos. Why? It's all down to her wholesale rejection of that dreaded label, singer-songwriter. "That whole thing is so po-faced. It gives me the willies," she says.

www.cathydavey.com