New listings

Here are two CDs that should make it to most music lovers’ Christmas wish list. One is from old, reliable Train, a band that has successfully traversed beyond indie rock to sensible pop, while Ella Henderson is a young woman we should all watch out for and lend our ears to.

Ella Henderson — Chapter One (Syco/Sony Music). Ella is an 18 year old who placed in Britain’s 2012 edition of the X Factor reality show. She composes her own songs, and comes at us like a cross between Adele and Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine — but with a strong and precocious pop sensibility that belies her tender age.

With a delivery that seems mature beyond her years, Ella even has some tracks that have a country twist like The First Time that recalls a young Kelly Clarkson. But it’s the first three tracks — Ghost, Empire and Flow — that had me convinced that unlike other performers who come from reality shows, Ella may be in for the long haul. She impresses on these tracks by going a cappella on lines, and warbling a la Minnie Riperton — but in a lower register. Impressive young artist!

Train — Bulletproof Picasso (Columbia/Sony Music). With Train, we have an indie band that has crossed over to mainstream popularity status ever since Hey Soul Sister. Two studio albums on, and this one kicks off with a song, Cadillac, Cadillac, that suspiciously sounds too much like an up-tempo song we might have gotten from Maroon 5.

I love that the duet here, Wonder What You’re Doing, has ex-Floetry Marsha Ambrosius as guest singer. The title song and the slow burn Angel in Blue Jeans are great stadium songs and I can foresee them being concert staples in the near future. A number of tracks have very marked country influences, and this should help them in securing a wider audience. Me, I miss their early days, but I accept this is the price of success.