LULU was 15 when she began to Shout from the Glaswegian rooftops. Fellow Scot Karine Polwart was 33 before she released her debut solo album, Faultlines.

Lulu's raucous voice always sounded old beyond her schoolgirl years; Polwart's wise and poised folk songs bear testament to a life of experiences. She has worked for a domestic abuse charity and has a Masters in Philosophy, aside from cutting her folk teeth in Malinky.

Faultlines, first released last year, is being re-issued in the light of her BBC Radio 2 Folk Award successes last month. This Scottish Borders singer-songwriter occupies the borders between folk and pop and writes about the borders between life and death.

Where she is darkly captivating, Lulu's Sixties cuts for Mickie Most whisk up the sunniest sunshine pop and the cheesiest of show songs. Her mighty Mighty Quinn shows Manfred Mann the door; collectors will wallow in the previously unreleased French and Italian kitsch versions of Boom Bang A Bang.

Updated: 08:42 Thursday, March 03, 2005