In the contemporary R&B scene, however, a fresh voice emerges from the Byron Bay shores in Australia. The first part of this year has seen the debut EP from Billie Skye – a 19-year-old prodigy - who takes her place as an emerging star with beautiful R&B moments. For Billie Skye, a person who grew up in a family where music flows through his veins; her...

There's a curious jolt in hearing a title like "Us Against The World" from an act called The Cockney Cowboy. The name itself is a glorious contradiction, a pairing of gritty East London reality with the wide-open romance of Nashville. You half expect a joke, but what Justin Vella delivers is a dead-serious, straight-shooting country ballad that smells less of hay bales and more...