When reviewing new music I try to avoid comparisons where possible. Partly as it feels lazy, and partly because it can sometimes feel disrespectful to an artist’s hard work by condensing it down into something so simple. Sometimes it’s unavoidable however, it’s the great big musical elephant in the room. So when I say that London based artist Ollie Trevers is the most compelling candidate for a spiritual successor to Jeff Buckley that I have perhaps ever heard, understand it is a high honour for me to bestow. Grace is one of the finest albums ever made, and I hear so much of what made me fall in love with it in Ollie’s work.

His vocals have such astonishing versatility, turning on a sixpence from the soft caress of gossamer upon your skin to the howling wind in a summer storm. Like the superb light and shade in ‘Can’t Make It Up’ between the gentle verses and fierce chorus. Imperfections are often far more enrapturing that the pursuit of perfection, and the passionate voice break in the final chorus as he gives his all to the song is such a brilliant moment. I love the scope of his ambitions and the range of influences that he draws from. Tracks like ‘Stage Of Fools’ and ‘I Need Someone’ bear the mark of everything from folk, soul and blues, to prog and alt rock. I admire his ability to draw light from where there seemingly is none on ‘Lost Alone’, how the dark lyricism about pain, heartbreak and isolation can give rise to the most uplifting melodies on the record and have them feel perfectly at home. If he keeps all this up then maybe one day he’ll be the kind of artist that others hope one day to be compared to.

Fans of Haunt The Woods, Nothing But Thieves and, funnily enough, Jeff Buckley, should check out Ollie’s new EP Cordelia