One of the first things that comes to mind with Johnathan Rice is that he clearly can't spell his own name very well. Fortunately, the second thing that comes to mind is that he's a damn fine singer-songwriter who can spell his own name however he likes so long as keeps on making music this good.

His debut album doesn't start particularly auspiciously though, with the best thing you can say about Short Song For Strings is that it at least lives up to the brevity implied by the name.

Thankfully, Mid-November is a much better introduction into Rice's world of singer-songwriter bliss, with his distinctive voice warmly crooning over a lush and mostly acoustic background.

Kiss Me Goodbye is a rockier affair, but one that still reflects his musical education of Gram Parsons, Joni Mitchell and The Band from his childhood days flitting between Glasgow and Virginia. Like many modern artists, his career has taken off partly thanks to songs appearing in teen dramas like The O.C. and Smallville (which inspired a 600% rise in sales for his debut EP!)

Songs like So Sweet are almost tailor-made for that kind of market, which of course is much bigger in America than over here, though his recent support slot for Martha Wainwright at Academy 3 certainly impressed most who were there. He's also made friends and influenced people in the rock world, with Snow Patrol and REM both confirmed fans of his music, while he's even landed a role playing Roy Orbison in a biopic of Johnny Cash, alongside Joaquim Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

One of the highlights of his show in Manchester was Break So Easy - which was the song that appeared in Smallville - with its insistent guitar picking and husky vocals. Debut single Behind The Frontlines is more of the same, and if there is a criticism of Trouble Is Real, it's that it may be a little overlong at 16 tracks, with the aforemention opener and Hickory Wind (outro) not really necessary. But this is still one of this year's best debut albums, even though he spells his name funny...