When the young Jake Bugg shot to fame he was heralded by many as a breath of fresh air in a world of manufactured pop and X-Factor stardom. With guitar-based acts occupying a dwindling proportion of commercially successful music, Bugg claimed it was his mission to “get people picking up guitars again.” Yet most of his songs are co-written with hired songwriters.

He’s also keen to stress that he grew up in the Clifton area of Nottingham, allowing him to write gritty vignettes of council estate life. Now many of the media outlets that hyped his eponymous debut are poking fun, as he sports Prada shoes and hobnobs with supermodels. So has Jake lost his way?

Petty discussions of ‘authenticity’ aside, Shangri La delivers twelve morsels of well-crafted indie rock. Fans of the first album will be treated to more fingerpicked folk, interspersed with bursts of energetic rock n’ roll. At times it feels like the hyperbolic comparisons to Donovan carry a grain of truth. At other points, he unfortunately slips into unadventurous Gallagher-esque drudgery.

The new album deviates only slightly from his first, though producer Rick Rubin does on occasion foray into a heavier sound. These attempts generally fall flat, with lead single ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ pitting Bugg’s nasal vocals against a punk backing, with grating results.

Bugg also attempts to deliver longer, more complex songs that demonstrate song writing maturity. These often feel bloated and contrived next to tracks such as the punchy skiffle opener ‘There’s A Beast And We All Feed It’. An exception is ‘Simple Pleasures’, which makes for an enjoyable romp presumably engineered as an epic anthem to close a festival set.

Lyrically, Bugg retains his penchant for depicting scenes of council estate life, drawn from his own past experiences. Yet ‘Messed Up Kids’ lacks the wit of the previous album’s ‘Trouble Town’. It fails to paint a convincing picture of inner city characters drawn into drug dealing and prostitution, as Alex Turner did so successfully with ‘When The Sun Goes Down’.

In the quieter moments of the album Bugg’s talent starts to shine through. ‘Me and You’ shows his tender side in a country ballad, while ‘Pine Trees’ strips him back to guitar and vocals in an emotionally bare song.

The album closes with ‘Storm Passes Away’, a wistful tune that segues through various facets of Americana, blending a blues chord progression with Nashville vocals. Yes, it may be derivative, and Jake Bugg may not be the saviour of guitar music, but something about his music exudes an irresistible charm.