TIM ARNOLD - THE SOHO HOBO

Tim Arnold appeared on the last season of BBC's The Voice, performing a cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill and winning a place on Ricky Wilson's team, but anyone expecting a mainstream album from the singer-songwriter should think again. Arnold has created a series of songs about Soho, an area of London he has long championed, as he rails against the increased commercialism of its once seedy glamour. Many of the tracks hark back to a bygone era, with jaunty opener The Hunter And The Hunted setting the tone as narrator Peter Straker reels off the names of a number of infamous Soho characters such as Peter Cook and Jeffrey Bernard to winning effect. Although designed to be listened to as a cohesive whole, there are some stand-out tracks, particularly the excellent Soho Sunset, a duet Arnold sings with his partner Jessie Wallace, best known for playing Kat Slater in EastEnders. Equally effective is Ain't Made To Measure with actor Phil Daniels recreating his Cockney geezer persona which he used so effectively on Blur's Parklife. With music veering from early 20th century music hall, brilliantly brought back to life on The Piccadilly Trot, to others which sound like a hybrid of early Madness and Ian Dury's Blockheads, this is a delight, and an unexpected one, too, given that appearance on the BBC talent show. 8/10 KIM MAYO