ALL That Heaven Allows from Thomas Truax (Psycho Teddy Records), inhabits the same musical territories as Giant Sand, Valparaiso, the Dresden Dolls, Post War Glamour Girls or Moriarty, where the rich veins of cabaret, chanson and punk are reconfigured to unexpectedly spectacular effect.

Truax probes at the very edge of genres, forcing a constant adjustment to a sound that is wonderfully eclectic. Hard-edged yet polyphonic, it's as melodically elaborate as it is sensitive.

A tontine was a 17^th century investment scheme that expired with the death of its last member and on Spear of Destiny's Tontine (Eastersnow Recording Company), it's sparked by the lance of Longinus, the centurion and later saint, who pierced the side of the crucified Christ.

But redemption is not on offer here. The edgy, fatalistic and melancholy tone of the songs is rendered with breath-taking musical expertise — quite a revelation.

Skerryvore's Evo (Tyree Records) demonstrates the band's remarkable consistency in creating memorable songs that radiate an unmistakable joie de vivre, whatever their tempo or lyrics.

Here, the octet in full musical flight is simply awesome and the superb virtuosity in arrangements must rate among the most inventive and ebullient of the genre.

Anchor (Topic Records) by Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy is a charming melange of reinterpreted songs, where the traditional and contemporary are deconstructed and reunified by the pair’s phenomenal interpretative skills and voices that, solo or in duet, mesmerise musically.

Emanating a reassuringly warm world-weariness and the right measure of melancholy — how else? — The Gift Band provide beautifully measured support with meandering, shifting and beautifully accented tempos.

Quebra Cabeca (Puzzle) from Bixiga 70 (Glitterbeat Records) is an entirely instrumental album, an immersive paean to Sao Paulo’s multiplicity of throbbing urban sounds and vibrant multicultural spirit.

“Bixiga is our own creation,” they stress and, while they respect the Gilberto Gils of this world they look up to Pedro Santos, Os Tincoas and others who aren’t as prominent but of far greater significance within the core of Brazilian music.

Affirmative and celebratory of a distinctly switched-on sense of identity, this is truly innovative music.