Welsh artists seem to come on top and then suddenly lose it in some way. 

Take the mid-90s critical and commercial rise and fall of the Manics. The Stereophonics started off with some decent tunes, but now believe they’re Californian rock stars. After phenomenal success, Catatonia messily imploded years ago. Now Charlotte Church thinks by becoming more manufactured and busty she is somehow a Crazy Chick.

Joya may lose it later, but at this stage, this Welsh group have combined several different elements to produce Get Me On A Road (released on Monday) – an album where every track has a sound and feel influenced by the classic British songwriting model. But is this merely generic blandness or a well-executed homage?

First track in, A Place brings back memories of Coldplay’s God Put A Smile On Your Face. But it’s not merely a Keane/Athlete style rip-off. The twist is that they’ve combined the jazzy chords with added mariachi trumpet to give it its own sense of distinction.

Lately has a Supergrass – circa In It For The Money feel to it; with autumnal piano and swaying string section. Ideas again works with a similar strain of classic rock-pop melody, as does Get Me On A Road. But the sincerity does actually shine though, as does the crafted beauty.

Nocturnal alludes to Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel‘s Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me). But this is just to confuse you, after two minutes it turns into Miles Davis performing dub reggae. This then gently fades out, making you wonder "why they hell did they do that?"

This is a pretty solid album.  It seems to contain all the best elements of bands and tracks you like without becoming a clone of Chris Martin‘s crew. Though there are on occasion empty tracks like the aptly named Wrong, they don’t distract from the fireside acoustica pervading the collection. Joya may not be revolutionary, but they’re certainly beyond the minor chord laziness of their contemporaries. Hopefully they’ll keep it together for a few years longer than Ms Church.

Search for the cheapest place to buy Get Me On A Road by Joya at Kelkoo.co.uk

Also out Monday:

Numbers From The Beast – An All-Star Salute To Iron Maiden: Possibly the most ridiculous album ever released. Metal’s most OTT group get an even-more OTT reworking from luminaries such as Lemmy, WWE meathead Chris Jericho and Billy Idol’s drummer. Still – Run To The Hills though, eh? (Buy)

Death From Above 1979 – Romantic Rights Remixes: A bunch of thudding, buzzing and shouting gets mangled into new shapes by Jesper Dahlbeck, Erol Alkan, Josh Homme and Jesper Dahlbeck again. The sort of thing that your neighbour plays loudly to deliberately annoy you. We like it. (Buy)

[main review by Jack Johnson]