New music: 'David Woodcock' by David Woodcock

"Here lies the end of me, it's all getting dark and hard to see,

Time takes its toll on me, but it couldn't be clearer,

The Evening Echo call it the end of an era"

The début album from Southend's David Woodcock is full of wry observations on life and quiet nods towards his home town. When you come from the same are it almost makes you feel part of an in joke, as you recognise places like The Railway Hotel and Pier Hill. And I've been reading the Evening Echo's local news for local people since I was in short trousers (I've even been in it a few times) so I'm familiar with their hyperbole (and poor spelling).

But you don't have to be an Essex boy or girl to appreciate the warmth of Woodcock's wit. Though it's true that David's music is currently getting a lot of support on BBC 6music from North Essex luminary Steve Lamacq, anyone with even a slight sense of the eccentric or a taste for quirky Englishness will enjoy the cut of his jib. With his voice sounding like Damon Albarn at his most 'mockney' and a talent for shoehorning lyrics into melodies like Ian Dury (especially on 'Same Things') he scampers his way though love and loss. If you'd seen him on a bill singing 'Open Secret' between Squeeze and Madness back in the day he would've fitted right in.

There's a strongly confessional feel to the songwriting here, although they can't all be true. Apart from anything else, one minute he's pleading the fact that just because he's never left the country doesn't mean he's boring (on 'The Adventures of You and Me') and the next he's telling tales of 'Springtime in New York'. But I'm sure a lot of people will identify with his status of being a 'Relatively Single Man' - going nowhere with no back-up plan. By the time you get to album closer 'I Forgot To Miss You (late night at The Railway Hotel) you really do feel like you've spent a night in the pub with him.

So if you fancy a bit of end of the pier revelry, especially if that pier's the longest pleasure pier in the world, then give David Woodcock a try. And maybe buy him a Drambuie next time you see him in The Railway Hotel...

New music: 'Be My Ghost (The Green Light)' by Eloise Keating

New music can find you in the most unusual of locations; in this case I was waiting in the queue for the pancake machine at the hotel in Portsmouth where I was staying for the Victorious Festival. Striking up a conversation with the person queueing behind me I discovered that she was Eloise Keating, a singer/songwriter who was playing the festival that afternoon. Here's her track 'Be My Gost (The Green Light)' which I really like. Apparently she's moving more into a more electronic, produced sound than just a girl and a guitar, which as you can imagine is right up my street. Hopefully she'll retain her own voice rather than becoming, say, an Ellie Goulding clone - let's keep our fingers crossed for big things for her.

Recommended music: 'Whelm' by Douglas Dare

The début album from London-based singer-songwriter has just been released on Erased Tapes, and it fits in well with the family of artists on this label. It's much more than just a man with a piano, and as its sweeping melodies drag you in you can see why Dare feels that the emotions in the songs are closely linked to the sea. There are gentle, calm moments like 'Caroline' and the instrumental title track , mixed in with harder edged, more electronic tracks like 'Unrest' and 'Swim'. Across these songs you can sense a host of influences, from label mates like Nils Frahm through to the likes of Radiohead and Four Tet. Despite the influences though, Dare's fantastic voice and vision combine to create something that's unlike anything else you've heard this year, and it's all the better for that

To release an album as well crafted and assured as this at the age of 23 is quite an achievement, one that signals the arrival of a talent that will surely be around for years to come

You can listen to the whole album below, and buy it direct from Erased Tapes here.