The latest releases reviewed.

JOHN LEGEND Once Again Sony BMG ****

If you've come within 10 feet of a radio recently, you'll have heard Save Room, the opener on Once Again. A combination of Hammond organ and Legend's velvety soul vocals, this is postmodern Motown with an r'n'b fleck. Legend cut his teeth as a session musician and has impressive credentials: he's written for and collaborated with the likes of Be, Slum Village and Mary J Blige, but it took a move to Kanye West's label to seal his A-list calibre (and add a dash of coolness to his profile). Legend is an intuitive performer, careful not to choke his work with unnecessary flourishes; an attitude that triumphs on spare, melodic numbers like Slow Dance and Where Did My Baby Go? The adopted surname is hard to ignore, but with that potent voice, piano magic and loungey love stories, who wants to? www.johnlegend.com Sinéad Gleeson

VEGA4 You and Others Sony BMG **

Vega4 are that chipper little quartet you may have seen emerging from a toppled cardboard box on ads for 2fm. With a membership drawn from Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and England, the group apparently combine so many influences that they find their sound indescribable. Actually, this mysterious nexus of global styles has conspired to resemble a blander, more enervating version of Snow Patrol. In pop, it seems, the meek have inherited the earth, a fact echoed in the plodding stomps, soggy emotions and wincing yowls that string along through Traffic Jam, Tearing Me Apart, Life Is Beautiful . . . actually pretty much everything here. Each song hopes to grow up one day to be an anthem, an ambition encouraged by producer Garrett Jacknife Lee's polish and punch, where everything attains an air of instant familiarity. And you know what familiarity breeds. www.vega4.com Peter Crawley

BRIGHT EYES Noise Floor - B-sides & Rarities Saddle Creek ***

Much good came out of the break-up of US band Commander Venus: namely, the formation of indie label Saddle Creek and Conor Oberst's solo career as Bright Eyes. Oberst's music is characteristically fey at the best of times, and the B-side, that oft under-used filler zone, allows him the space to run amok. From the chattering cacophony of Mirrors and Fevers to the observational gem Drunk Kid Catholic, his lyrical confessions make you feel like you've stolen his diary. A collection like this also affords the chance to tip hats to heroes, and Oberst offers fine versions of Daniel Johnston's Devil Town and M Ward's Seashell Tale. Bad Blood, a collaboration with Jimmy "Album Leaf" LaVelle, is a perfect union of what both do best - contrasting indistinct vocals with inventive arrangements. Odd and appealing in equal measure. www.saddlecreek.com Sinéad Gleeson

MIHO HATORI Ecdysis Rykodisc ****

Dreamy, quirky and ineffably cool, Miho Hatori's first solo album sheds old skin to reveal a fascinating transformation. Hatori was formerly one half of '90s hipster-favourites Cibo Matto; she retains a sliver of the group's winning Japanese kitsch, but now drafts in lilting Brazilian percussion or Jamaican rhythms that wear her musical surprises with a breezy insouciance. If this approach - complete with breathy vocal irruptions and fetchingly daft lyrics about the dangers of shunning insects - invites comparisons to a more firmly hinged Björk, so be it. The gentle, rumbling torch song In Your Arms, the fidgety tropicalia of Barracuda and the beaming electro squelch of Sweet Samsara Part II have luxurious idiosyncrasies that are all their own. Hatori brings together every random idea with limpid coherency, however, as though she belongs to a world where nothing can sound unnatural. www.mihohatori.com Peter Crawley

THE BLIZZARDS A Public Display of Affection Universal ****

It's taken a band from Mullingar to put the sex and drugs back into Irish rock'n'roll. The Blizzards' mammies must be mortified at these tales of close encounters in sex shops, wanton eastern European women and overdosing on Viagra. The Blizzards take a ska-punk sensibility and use it to craft catchy indiepop songs like Freaky, Miss Fantasia Preaches, War of Words and Why Do You Fancy Scumbags? With enough la-las and singalong choruses to satisfy, not to mention skanking beats, this cheeky quintet could be the Kaiser Chiefs of Westmeath. While their subject matter certainly leans towards the puerile, they do ably chart the more bizarre and twisted side of life in a fast-changing Irish landscape. The album is produced by Michael Beinhorn, who has worked with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Korn, but A Public Display of Affection still comes across as a sparky little indie album. www.theblizzards.ie Kevin Courtney

FAVOURITE SONS Down Beside Your Beauty Vice Records ****

Ken Griffin was the singer in Rollerskate Skinny, so his legendary status is already assured. He moved to New York after the demise of that seminal Irish band, and, apart from fronting the short-lived Kid Silver, all but gave up music. Enter four guys from Philadelphia-based band Aspera, big fans of Rollerskate Skinny, who were looking for a new singer. The team-up has resulted in a raw and passionate record, haunted by the ghosts of the American highway, and signposted by the spirits of Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Johnny Cash and Mark Eitzel. Griffin's grinding-crankshaft vocals steer a well-tuned rock engine on such tunes as When You're Away from Me, No One Ever Dies Young, The Tall Grass, Tear the Room Apart and Pistols and Girls. With such pistol-whip sharp lyrics as "when will we go out and hang ourselves some sinners?", this favourite son is well on the road to redemption. www.favouritesons.com Kevin Courtney