Chris Helme’s ‘World Of My Own’ album is one of the year’s finest, and he’ll be regaling us with tracks from it when he visits North Shields this November.

It’s been a long time coming – ten years I make it – but Chris Helme’s ‘World Of My Own’ has nary been off my turntable since it was released earlier this year. It’s a truly gorgeous release featuring stirring folk-rock-indie tunes that are overflowing with big-hearted sentiments and constructed from the subtlest shades of light and dark. It’s like a diary of his life over that ten-year period, and any soul searching he does is backed-up by the quality of his songwriting, which just seems to mature like the finest of wines. Helme, of course, was the frontman with the excellent Seahorses (which was John Squire’s post-Stone Roses band) but, for me, Helme’s solo stuff – including 2012’s brilliant ‘The Rookery’ album – surpasses anything he did with Squire. His early evening show at the wonderfully intimate The Engine Room in North Shields promises to be something special. JL

Chris Helme, Sunday 17 November, The Engine Room, North Shields, show starts 5pm, £22, terns.co.uk