Missy Higgins – Oz (Eleven)

The deluxe package contains an eclectic album of Australian covers and a book of related essays.

Higgins ‘re-imagines’ 15 diverse songs and rather than cover the usuals suspects she takes a more adventurous route with songs from The Angels, Slim Dusty, Kylie, Something For Kate, The Warumpi Band, Paul Kelly, The Drones and more).

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga – Cheek to Cheek (Columbia)

The mind boggles at this collaborative jazz album from Lady Gaga and octogenarian Tony Bennett. Not that Tony hasn’t recorded some unusual duets before but this might take the award for the most unusual effort to date.

You probably will not recognise Ms Ga Ga on the cover but there will be recognition soon as the voice kicks on classic songs such as ‘Anything Goes’ (which might have been the title!), ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’, ‘Sophisticated Lady’,  ‘Lush Life’ and the record’s title track, ‘Cheek To Cheek.’

Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams (PAX/AM)

The former bad boy of alternative country should now become the darling of Americana with this cracking new album that sees him return to form with a swag of memorable songs packed with great guitar riffs and hooks.

Various artists – Beck Song Reader (Capitol)

First Beck decides to put out a book of sheet music for anyone to interpret the material and now we have this 20-track all-star collection, which features exclusively recorded versions of the charts by musicians including Jack White, Jeff Tweedy, Jarvis Cocker, Loudon Wainwright III, David Johansen, Jason Isbell and even Beck himself. That is almost the definition of eclectic. It sounds weird, but it works (mostly).

Talking smack: honest conversations about drugs by Andrew McMillen (University of Queensland Press)

Journalist Andrew McMillen has conducted a series of in-depth interviews with Australian musicians about their thoughts on (and experiences with) illicit, prescription and legal drugs – a subject most people are unwilling to open up about.

There are some fascinating and some scary stories but most of all the book is surprisingly revealing