Yasuha Kominami

When we first heard this Hyogo-born singer-songwriter a couple of years ago, it was tempting to hope that we might have a new Shiina Ringo on our hands. Yasuha Kominami's achievements since then have been rather more modest: debut album Kimera peaked at number 36 earlier this year, as label EMI attempted to squeeze its latest signing into an Avril Lavigne-shaped straitjacket that was clearly a few sizes too small. Where she goes from here remains to be seen, but we haven't lost hope yet.