DON'T plug me into the David Gray machine,, says Britain brightest acoustic singer-songwriter, Thea Gilmore (pictured).

Dance remixes are all so much rubbish, marketing's taken over everything and the latest generation is even blander than the last.

She's not wrong and is true to her word: fiercely independent Thea has spurned the advances of major labels, preferring to sell her mature-voiced musings through Flying Sparks, including her latest single, Fever Beats, out now.

Fever beats down the line she sings, which is all about the current mess of hysteria echoing about the globe, killing and maiming in the name of 'justice' and 'international security' and her own disdain for dance remixes!

Backed with a rocky, Springsteen-like backing, Thea's voice is instantly arresting and the lyrics captivating.

"That song is my vision of the music industry," she said. "It's kind of the way people will look on issues and say that's bad and never do anything about them. It happens more than anywhere in the music industry. Maybe that's me included."

The single is not taken from her latest and third album, Rules for Jokers, and is rockier than anything from there.

Work on her fourth album is half completed and recording will begin in August/September. Expect plenty of new material at her gig in Cardiff next week.

She says: "There's a pile of a lot darker songs. I'm reading a lot of dark novels at the moment. I'm in the middle of The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Elgrin.

"There're lots of 'people destroying one another' songs."

Thea will perform in Cardiff with her producer and guitarist Nigel Stonier.

"I like playing acoustically. It's more organic. You get to connect with the audience more. I couldn't lose that because it's what I'm all about."

* Thea Gilmore plays the Toucan Club, St Mary Street, Cardiff, on Wednesday March 20. Tickets £5. For more details call (029) 2037 2122 / (029) 2037 2212.