Lau

Lightweights and Gentlemen

If the rules of music are there to be broken, they are best broken by people who know what they are in the first place. The exceptional musicians who make up Lau - Martin Green, Kris Drever and Aidan O'Rourke - could settle for rattling off traditional jigs and reels with more authority than most.

Instead, they write their own sets. And the direction some of the tunes take is astounding, straightforward melodies and rhythms careering off into all manner of unfamiliar territory while technical brilliance keeps the sound the right side of cacophony.

Drever's handsomely delivered songs, which brought him one of this year's BBC Young Folk awards, add useful balance, but it is the combined sense of style, adventure and fun that turns the album into an utter corker.