Ha

You'd easily forgive Talvin for a spot of second album nerves, as not every Thom, Damon and Noel lands the Mercury Prize with their debut album. Ha sees Singh further his penchant for simple two letter album titles and effortless fusions of just about any strand of music one cares to mention. Flutes, tablas, indian harps, keyboards and a host of guest vocalists including Liam O'Maonlai get in on the global sound clash - and that's just the first track.

'The Beat Goes On' sparkles and shuffles with breathtaking orchestral trip-hop signatures and shimmering swirls of deliciously weird vocal. 'Uphold' is a scarier, more paranoid beast, punctuated by Talvin's own FX beat box.

At its best, listening to Ha is akin to being miraculously exposed to the world's most surreal and diverse orchestra ever. At its very infrequent worst, the beats can get a little too sterile and overly clinical for their own good.

But the really good news is that contrary to being a one-trick album pony, Talvin is one of the very few contemporary artists possessing a genuinely unlimited and unconstrained musical vision. It's very easy these days to play the eclectic card purely for show, but in Talvin's hands it is a mesmerising magic wand capable of weaving all sorts of seductive spells.