Album: Micah P. Hinson, Micah P. Hinson and the Red Empire Orchestra (Full Time Hobby)

Even if he were to cover his sort-of namesake's "Grace Kelly", Micah P. Hinson would still sound like a backwoods mechanic hiding something in the cellar.

At 27, Hinson's life already reads like a biopic: painkiller addiction, prison, proposing to his partner on stage in London, now married but crippled by chronic back pain. On this LP, that cracked country voice (more pebble-dashed than gravelly) tells tales of love and obsession over swooping strings and subtle arrangements. It's his best album yet. But mass appeal will have to remain a distant dream – until that biopic.

Pick of the Album: The dark country cabaret of 'You Will Find Me'