ENGLISH singer-songwriter Ralegh Long’s debut album has, unsurprisingly, drawn critical comparisons to Nick Drake.

They have come thick and fast and certainly the pastoral lyrical concerns and lush orchestrations on tracks like opener Gulls Hovering and the piano-led Islands can’t help but bring to mind Drake’s best work.

But other influences seem just as clear — the stark balladry of US songwriter Alex Chilton on Beginning The World, Comes A Time-era Neil Young on The Lizard and, most obviously, the London-based indie pop band The Clientele on pretty much every song.

“It’s no use loving someone who just doesn’t need to be loved”, intones Long on No Use, which explores lost love, another key concern of the album.

A warmly produced set of melodic and sensitive songs, Hoverance is an impressive slice of MOR piano-based pop.