Gaz Coombes - Matador (2015)

It's been an extraordinary journey for Gaz Coombes, from flashily whiskered pop tearaway to Ivor Novello and BRIT award winning rock star to soundtracking the summer (he was responsible for that sublime cover of The Kinks 'This Time Tomorrow' for John Lewis earlier this year). The mega-watt melodic genius responsible for ten Top 20 hits and six Top 20 albums - I Should Coco was Parlophone's fastest selling debut since the Beatles Please Please Me - returns with his remarkable new album, entitled Matador. "There's this disposable vibe around music at the moment which is odd, because it's so obviously central to most people's lives," says Gaz. "Life is full of moments of fear, loss and longing, but it's how you get through those things and triumph over them which define you. But there's as much light as there is dark on this record; there's beauty in both of those states and that has always intrigued me."