At the tender age of nineteen, Patrick Wolf's 2003 debut Lycanthropy pegged him as a weird, talented but undoubtedly-acquired taste. Its follow up two years later, Wind in the Wires brought his music to a bigger audience - though certainly not a mainstream one. Until now, that is. His major label debut, The Magic Position, along with a high-profile support slot on Arcade Fire's European tour is set to propel his career skywards. Though still only twenty-three, Wolf has already been labelled 'the New Bowie' and even 'the New Kate Bush'; immoderate praise, perhaps, but it's easy to see why he's acquired such huge acclaim. Probably the most inventive album released so far this year, The Magic Position sees the South Londoner use his classical training in piano and harp to wondrous effect, crafting songs that are stylistically radical in both delivery and composition. Heck, he's even managed to rope in Marianne Faithfull to guest on one track, while his fellow off-kilter contemporary Edward Larrikin of Larrikin Love also makes an appearance. The Magic Position starts as it means to go on; Overture is heralded in with a chorus of tribal drum beats that slowly gives way to sumptuous cello, violin and eventually, Wolf's richly-textured voice, which tells stories of childhood alienation, modern fairytales and love myths. The title track continues along the experimental slant with its use of a cartoon xylophone riff laced through an almost poppy folk tune, while The Bluebell goes electro-acoustic pop and sounds like a hypnotising de-mix (yes, de-mix) of a Le Tigre track. That's not all, though; Wolf reveals his genuine talent for songwriting with several emotive piano ballads (Magpie, Augustine), throws an industrial, Depeche Mode-esque chamber music ditty into the mix (Accident & Emergency) and even dabbles in Aphex Twin-style drum 'n' bass (Secret Garden). If this all sounds too good to be true, perhaps it is; maybe The Magic Position's eclecticism is more than the sum of its parts. There's an undeniably addictive sense of joy through the majority of songs here, though - and most importantly, the thrilling prospect of what Wolf will conjure up next.