Album: Richard Walters, The Animal, (Kartel)

A male singer-songwriter with a troubled heart and a penchant for gentle and fragile songs... Wait. Don't turn the page.

Because Richard Walters is not like other men with troubled hearts and a penchant etc. Beneath that quiet exterior ticks a lyrical mind as dark as Florence Welch's. Case in point: the title track here is about a wife-beater. Sung from his point of view ("I'm alive when I hit you now"). Apparently, Walters has now got his epilepsy and love life under control. Gonna be fascinating to see where he goes from here.