Epic Records releases an album this month that has already sold near on 30,000 copies -- Australia by Howie Day. You've never heard of it? That's because you would have been hard pressed to find it on the shelves of most record stores.

The album has so far only been sold via Day's website, through devoted fans who work as reps, and at the hundreds of shows he has played at clubs and college campuses around the USA over the past two years. Yet the growing buzz surrounding Day portrays the ever-changing face of today's music business. With record sales ever falling, MP3 downloads and bootleg trading are becoming the ways to discover new music. Day's rise shows this perhaps more than any other musician around.

And it has been Day's live shows that have created the storm of interest in this CD. With little press or radio play, he regularly packs clubs across the country. No fewer than 81 record label representatives, music publishing companies and entertainment law firms attended one show at CB's Gallery in New York in March 2001. At his shows, the kids sing every word to every song. Day's management have an open-taping policy so much of the audience already owns piles of his live CDs. Day has become major news all through the downloading and trading of discs. Remember, his record is only just being given a proper release.

Day is 21 years of age and started playing the live circuit in his home state of Massachusetts at 15. By 19 he was independently recording this debut album at Q Division in Boston with producer Mike Denneen (who has most prominently worked with Aimee Mann). It was totally self-financed. This meant that the recording process stretched out for over a year as Day couldn't afford to record the album in one session. When his pockets were empty, he would hit the road again in search of more cash.

Australia was independently released in 2000 -- following on from the recording and manufacturing of his own EP in 1999, which in itself sold 8,000-plus copies in just 12 months. As a result of his self-financing, Day has up until now pocketed $8.80 a record from the $10 price. Added to this financial reward, Day also picked up the 2001 Boston Music Award for best debut album.

Opener "Sorry So Sorry" reminds me most of the best of U2 -- more Achtung Baby's aggression than the dull retro-leanings of All That You Can't Leave Behind. It begins with a sampled drum. A rumbling bass soon kicks in giving the song a driving rhythm that builds up all the way through. Far from being repetitive, the chorus manages to keep adding layers of tension as more and more instruments join the fray.

The accessibility of the album shines through -- it has plenty of lovelorn, heartaching and heartbreaking numbers. "She Says" is the most commercial track out of the ten, but also perhaps the best. "And when she says she wants someone to love / I hope you know that she doesn't mean you" is sung falsetto over driving, three-chord changes. "Everything Else" again shows Day's wonderful pop sensibilities and highlights one of his dominant lyrical styles -- the constant passive/aggressive switches. "And I'm screaming for the breath that makes you alive" growls Day, before reclining: "And everything else doesn't matter really / 'cause that girl that you want / She's never going away" over a breezy acoustic guitar.

Unlike his solo acoustic shows, this record is recorded with a full band but still sounds painful and sparse. "Slow Down" in particular is moody and emotionally raw. It has just the right dose of youthful angst and fuzzed-up guitar to stop it sounding like the latest pastiches of 90's grunge, Nickelback and Puddle of Mud. Day repeatedly spits out the track's killer line: "I don't think I can trust love anymore".

First single "Ghost" captures the album's spirit most with its hushed guitar and gritty vocals. From the drum-sampled intro to the high-pitched crooning of "I wanna taste love", Day's feel for structure is phenomenal. "Disco" -- recorded by Day in his own basement -- closes the album on a dark tone.

Day openly admits the influence of contemporary British music on his sound -- Coldplay, Radiohead, Travis and the Verve. He certainly recalls Richard Ashcroft on "Kristina" and Thom Yorke on "More You Understand". But it is an early passionate Bono whom his vocal most resembles. Whatever the influences, it is an extraordinary voice at any age.

My one and only criticism of this album is perhaps an unfair one. Day is a much more exciting performer live and rarely does himself justice on record. Here we must remember that the album was recorded almost three years ago and Day has greatly developed as a performer and songwriter since.

His unique live style is only hinted at on "Morning After", a live track included on the album. After buying this album, go and see Day perform or go trade for his live shows through his website. For it is here where his true talent shines through. His use of delay pedals and loops, guitar as a backbeat and samples of his own voice, owe a debt to another hot young US singer-songwriter, Joseph Arthur.

While Day's debt to his musical heroes is clear, he is quickly developing into a mature songwriter and dynamic performer in his own right. Recent live shows have seen rough workings of new songs that outstrip almost everything on Australia. A new album is slated for 2003.