A friend once referred to Sam Semple's career as the longest drum roll in history. His journey is of the long and winding type. A first-rate songwriter, very well respected, he's a modern-day British Kris Kristofferson.

A pivotal moment in Sam's life was when he first heard David Crosby sing 'Deja Vu'. He was blown away. He binned his Olivia Newton John records and decided there and then he was going to play the acoustic guitar, write songs and see where his life would end up.

He fits in well to the tradition of 'literary songwriters'; words are central to Sam's songs. He studied English Literature at Southampton University and he worked for Douglas Adams, on h2g2, an encyclopedic website based on Adams's novel The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Sam's dad, Shel Macrae, sang with 60s and 70s harmony pop band The Fortunes, and the songs his father sang - some of which were written by hit writers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway - are today a big influence on Sam's own writing.

Sam also writes with fellow songsmith Tom Baxter and 'Better', a track they wrote together, features in the new Simon Pegg film Run Fat Boy Run.

One of the most exciting discoveries of the year is Sam Semple, whose songwriting is staggeringly good. Regular readers of this review will know how highly Sam Semple is rated around these parts. He is mapping out uncharted territory with the topics he writes about, and his uniquely original approach to words and music makes for a compelling talent. The man is a true one-off.