Those with good memories might remember Clare Maguire from the new artist tipping season circa 2010-11, where the lungy Birmingham singer was marketed as a cut-price Florence Welch. Epic fail: bad reviews and so-so chart placings followed. Maguire turned to drink. After rehab, a change of label and adoption by the fashion set, she has gone back to basics, with a set of retro-inspired songs that don’t, frankly, refashion the wheel, but boast a certain tremulous, lived-and-loved appeal. The single, Elizabeth Taylor, is not bad, all pianos, strings and textbook triumph over tears; there are plenty more like it. Spookiest and most courageous by far, however, is Falling Leaves, just a few piano notes and ghostly heartbreak.
