Hurray for the Riff Raff: Small Town Heroes

Small Town Heroes may not be best thing Alynda Lee Segarra will ever record, but bettering this gritty and moving slice of Americana will take some work. Hurray for the Riff Raff is the nom de guerre of Segarra, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter of Puerto Rican descent who left New York City when she was 17 to wander across America. She is now based in New Orleans, and her experiences form a backdrop to the everyday concerns of longing, loving and losing, of friends, violence and community that fill these 12 songs. Segarra adapts a range of loose-fitting roots styles, but the main sound is country soul. Her reworking of classic Americana is nothing new, but Segarra's beguiling voice and haunting melodies create a magnetic emotional centre, as with the beautiful sadness of St Roch Blues and the joyful energy of End of the Line. hurrayfortheriffraff.com

Download: St Roch Blues, End of the Line