The latest releases reviewed.

NANCY ELIZABETH Battle and Victo ry Leaf Records ***

I read somewhere recently that glockenspiels are back in. And about time, too! I don't know whether Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe has a set, but she has many of the other tools of the post-folk movement: open-tuned acoustic guitars, haunted vocals, the odd harp, and a sackful of songs brimful with rustic mystery. This Wigan lass has a pure cool voice in the classic English folk tradition but, though her material courses with traditional references, there is a wealth of other things going on as well, not least of which is a sense of east meeting west. Coriander, Hey Sonand I Used to Trybalance innovation with strong melody, but as impressive as this set is, the songs lack any real long-lasting personality. www.nancycunliffe.co.uk JOE BREEN

Download tracks: Coriander, I'm Like the Paper

MARK KNOPFLER Kill to Get Crimson Mercury ***

I've a lot of time for Mark Knopfler. He goes about his business with a minimum of fuss, turning out records of serious intent, packed with quality playing and imaginative songwriting. He doesn't have to make the effort - the Dire Straits back catalogue is a pension to envy - so he simply must want to, as is clear from the music. But this album is a lapse of sorts, albeit with highlights. It opens with a love song that is as simple as it is lovely, but it's a false dawn because Knopfler's soft settings and dull melodic edge are frequently at odds with the biting colourful lyrics, as with The Scaffolder's Wife. He's more successful on the regretful Heart Full of Holes, the accordion-heavy Secondary Waltzand the traditional The Fish and the Bird. But the overall impression is that more work on the tunes would not have gone amiss. www.markknopfler.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: True Love Will Never Fade, Heart Full of Holes, The Fish and the Bird