Hannah Peel | Mon 3 Apr | Sunflower Lounge | £8.50
Experimental pop composer Hannah Peel gives off the same air of confounding, orchestral mystique as My Brightest Diamond or Sufjan Stevens, by combining an eclectic taste in sounds with a classically-trained ear and a heap of electronics. Oh, and she makes her own music boxes – but this show is more likely to be a primer on last year’s excellent ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ LP. seetickets.com

Mona | Mon 3 Apr | Hare & Hounds | £12.50
Nashville indie-rockers Mona are cut from the same cloth as Kings of Leon, and tend to come across like the world’s most earnest Delta Spirit cover band. But the approach throws up some gold for the group, with their recent ‘In the Middle’ EP enhanced by bone-rattling guitar lines and the hoarse croak of Nick Brown’s anguished yelps. seetickets.com

Femi Temowo + Engines Orchestra | Thu 6 Apr | Symphony Hall | £12
A very intimate, up-close and personal show from Nigerian-born, MOBO-nominated, UK-based composer, guitarist and vocalist known for his work with artists like Amy Winehouse, Dee Dee Bridgewater, The Roots and Soweto Kinch. Combining afrojazz and folk, he joins forces with the cross-genre ensemble Engines Orchestra to present music from his critically acclaimed 3rd solo release The Music is the Feeling to result in a festival of feel-good, beautiful grooves, contemplative melodies and heartfelt harmony. www.thsh.co.uk

MY BABY | Fri 7 Apr | Sunflower Lounge | £10
Shamanic electro-rock group MY BABY make the most unexpected musical connections, a synaptic map that ties together Can, Christine and the Queens, and the Faint into a theatrical dance-punk freakout. The Amsterdam trio harness every mystical, muso, punk weapon they’ve got in a shameless bid to make your feet move. See our full preview here.

Real Friends | Fri 7 Apr | Asylum | £14
Balm for those with an itch for the golden age of emo – particularly its more pop-punk tail-end, from Texas Is The Reason to Saves The Day and Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World. Real Friends don’t reinvent the formula; they sound like they keep the emo handbook on their bedside table. But they sure as hell execute it well, with razor-sharp hooks, chain-gang hollering and beefy half-time breaks. asylumvenue.co.uk