IT always helps to have celebrity fans, but singer/songwriter Tom Baxter has a most unlikely admirer.

You cannot be sure whether being plugged by Terry Wogan is a plus, but the voice of Radio 2 has hit upon a find with Baxter's debut album. The tracks don't lie: this is a record rooted in emotion, with carefully crafted acoustic sounds backed up a climactic finish and pained lyrics.

Fixed firmly in the current trend for vocalists who sound as if they are being stabbed while at the microphone (such as Keane and Coldplay), Baxter still manages to create something vaguely original, mixing angst with vocals that swoop and display a welcome deftness of touch.

Firm favourites include debut single This Boy and the Jeff Buckley-styled Girl From The Hills - along with opening track My Declaration - all of which could finally catapult the man who has already converted many on the live circuit into the big time.

Updated: 09:01 Thursday, August 12, 2004