bright red cardigans over printed dresses: Mystery Jets, Twenty One

Whenever autumn comes around, I start to think about my annual "top ten" lists. 2008 was a bit of a strange year, because even though I listened to quite a few new albums that came out in '08, very few of them actually stuck with me. Which ones stuck you'll probably find out in December (who can resist "best of"-lists in December? I sure can't!), but one of them will definitely be Twenty One by the Mystery Jets.

In 2006, I missed out on their debut Making Dens, but their single for 'Young Love', featuring the aggravatingly young and talented Laura Marling caught my ear and listening to Twenty One, I was definitely impressed. It gets said quite a lot since two of the band members are father and son, but the Mystery Jets are such an unusual, great band; the fact that they got their start on Eel Pie Island probably says enough.

Everyone probably has their own definition of what "pop music" is exactly, and a lot of people think "pop" is automatically a derogatory term, but when I say that Twenty One is perfect pop, I mean it as the biggest compliment. Beautifully crafted songs, with great lyrics and incredible heartache mixed in with deliriously happy bounce-around-the-room tunes; it's definitely one of the best albums this year.

As the saying goes, you should never judge a book by its cover, but a good record sleeve is an amazing thing, and Twenty One's got it:

I love the unusual colours and light in the photograph. A chap named Nacho Alegre created the artwork for the album, and you can check out his photographic diaries of the time he spent with the Jets during the recording of the album, which is a great bonus for curious music fans like me who love knowing how their favourite albums came to be.