Lorna Irvine

Comic actor, director, writer and general dapper man about town Richard Ayoade’s humour occupies a unique territory. He’s a perma-bemused, quietly underwhelmed presence in a world that favours the narcissist, the loud, the interminably sharp-elbowed. His pithy introversion, happily, extends to his books, too. In essence, he follows oddball performers who create their own worlds within worlds, such as Ivor Cutler, Vic and Bob, and Noel Fielding.

Texan dream pop band Holy Wave have been nibbling at the hems of mainstream recognition for over fifteen years now, which kind of makes me wonder what they have to do to have their place carved out in the indie firmament. Perhaps this album – lucky number seven – will help. It’s wonderful. Recorded in Mexico, it’s got some of the country’s spice and hazy sunshine. But it’s porous too, with a plethora of influences in its creation.

John Robb writes like he speaks: eloquently, breathlessly and with a wicked sense of humour. This new memoir is, as you’d expect, crammed full of eye-watering anecdotes of youthful folly, loss, creative energy and a battle cry for individualism.