Craig Armstrong

At its most facile and least challenging, pop is just three-and-a-half minutes of sound and fury, signifying nothing. But it can, of course, be an awful/wonderful lot more. With his second solo album of original material, Craig Armstrong proves the point to near-perfection. 'As if To Nothing' is at once simple and sophisticated, symphonic and seamless. It speaks both to the head and to the heart. And featuring as it does a stellar cast of collaborative musicians - among them Bono, Evan Dando, David McAlmont and Antye Greie-Fuchs - it shows just how compelling can be one man's vision when linked to the diverse talents of sympathetic and similarly gifted others.