Julia Michaels, Not in Chronological Order
(Republic)

The Coral, Coral Island
(Run On Records)

Lol Coxhill, Coxhill ’85
(Slam)

Carole King was a Brill Building songwriter before The City and then Tapestry made her a singing star. Laura Nyro had written several hits for others – The 5th Dimension with “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Stoned Soul Picnic” most obviously – before she was able to make records of her own. Allegedly, David Geffen didn’t think she was glamorous enough for pop stardom, and ironically, her biggest hit was with a Carole King and Gerry Goffin song “Up on the Roof”. With the fading of the song-factory A&R approach, specialist songwriters are thinner on the ground now, but emerging as a star after writing songs for a bewildering array of artists including Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Linkin Park, is Julia Michaels, with her first album Not in Chronological Order. Her debut single “Issues” was an internet smash and reception of the album has only been slightly blunted by the near-hysterical anticipation for Billie Eilish’s forthcoming sequel.