“Harry's new album is F*CKING INSANE!” tweeted Father John Misty recently, setting the expectation bar very high for a collection that, sources close to the former One Direction member had indicated, would be “deeply personal” (or, at least, as deeply personal as a Grammy-winning songwriting team would allow). Then, with the release of lead single “Sign of the Times” came comparisons to Pink Floyd and David Bowie. Not an overlong Robbie Williams piano ballad sung by someone with decent range, then? No. Pink Floyd. And Bowie.

The comparisons and preposterous hyperbole seem stranger still on the realisation that, while this may not sound like a One Direction album, it certainly feels like one. As with all 1D releases, many of the tunes presented here feel thoroughly road-tested – and mainly because they have been. If there is clear blue water to be found, it's simply in the choice of previous owners.

That's not to say they're not good, however. Opener and standout track “Meet Me in the Hallway” actually warrants the Pink Floyd comparison, in as much as it’s essentially an uptempo reworking of Dark Side’s “Breathe”, with the falsetto refrain from “Sign of the Times” dropped in, presumably to give maximum return on its earworm investment.

“Carolina”, meanwhile, is Beck’s “Devil’s Haircut”, covered by Supergrass, but with the rocket removed from its arse and handed to the stylist. It sounds built-for-purpose, but bearing in mind that the purpose seems to be uncomplicated fun, that’s fine by me.

Most notably, “Sweet Creature” is practically twinned with the Beatles’ “Blackbird” – by which I mean you’re more likely to tell them apart by name than rigorous DNA analysis. However, throughout all this, Styles’ voice holds up perfectly well and lends the songs a pleasing coherence, if falling short of the identity necessary to make the collection a complete success.

The same can’t be said for the mid-album rockers “Only Angel” and “Kiwi”, which see the singer posturing rather than performing. The former features a bluesy, Stones-y riff – neatly studied, and designed to do the same sort of job, but lacking the ferocity of the source material. It’s like sending out a housecat to bring down a gazelle.

Ultimately, it’s a decent enough debut, but Styles isn’t trying to reinvent the form and comparisons to artists who did are as unhelpful to him as they are inaccurate. He’s a perfectly capable pop singer with some solid songs. When on earth did that stop being enough?

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 @jahshabby

Overleaf: Watch the video for "Sign of the Times"

The title of this exhibition is typical of Pink Floyd’s mordant view of the world, not to mention their sepulchral sense of humour. Needless to say, the band that took stage and studio perfectionism to unprecedented lengths have pushed the boat out here, memorialising over 50 years of their collective history with thoroughness and fanatical attention to detail.

To call Jim Jones a punk-blues dynamo is something of an understatement. Having already fronted three epic bands since the mid-Eighties in Thee Hypnotics, Black Moses and the Jim Jones Revue, he’s now ready to unleash the debut album by his latest combo, Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind. Super Natural, happily enough, shows no evidence of diminishing returns though and is actually considerably more than is needed to prove that Jones is still riding the garage rocket.

The opening track, “Dreams”, comes roaring through the speakers like an air raid. Primal and gritty rock’n’roll with fire and brimstone vocals, it opens up the Righteous Mind’s sonic stall with gusto. Swaggering and sleazy tunes follow with Jones’s yelps and howls of encouragement, duelling guitars with Malcolm Toon and a voodoo beat from Phil Martini’s sticks. It’s incendiary stuff that channels the spirit of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Tav Falco and Gallon Drunk into a sonic cacophony that aims straight at the guts with its raw and giddy ambience.

“Aldecide” and “Boil Yer Blood” may be loud and lairy highlights with a swaggering menace that can’t be ignored. But picking out particular tunes on Super Natural feels a bit churlish, given the consistently high-quality adrenalin-fuelled groove. It’s not quite all white-hot punk-blues sounds: towards the end of the disc “Shallow Grave” and “Everyone But Me” turn down the volume if not the menace. Whoozy and disconcerting ballads, they even give Toon the chance to lay out some melancholy sounds with his pedal steel as Jones croons things out.

An album as feisty and cliché-free as Super Natural is a rarity these days. However, given the similar magnificence of the Righteous Mind’s live show, it’s unlikely to be a flash in the pan and that can only be a good thing.

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Overleaf: watch the video of “Aldecide”