Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam Brownswood****

Obaro Ejimiwe's debut will be inevitably tagged as a hip-hop release, though he is far too nimble and imaginative to be truly corraled. Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jamis as ghostly as the MC's moniker, existing in a shimmering half- light, where sounds drift in and out of the atmospheric wash, and all is not quite what it seems. You might have to strain your ears to pick up Ejimiwe's hazy, languid drawl in the midst of those murky beats, but his tales of inner-city dread and doom are sharp, well-tuned and finely pitched. The likes of instant ear-worm Cash & Carry Me Home, the low-key epic Floatingand Finished I Ain'tshow Ghostpoet's perfectly toned musical muscles and his ability to spring lyrical surprises on the listener. Ghostpoet plays Dublin's Grand Social tonight (March 4th). See ghostpoet. co.uk

Download tracks: Cash and Carry Me Home, Floating, Finished I Ain't