Lana Del Rey - Young & Beautiful.

Straight from the Great Gatsby soundtrack, Lana’s back with a slow marching, hedonistic anthem that stains the carpet of the American dream with salty tears of insecurity. Ah, taste those sweet, money-can-buy-happiness tears! 

Bleached - Next Stop.

More Californian girl rock. This time the sun-tickled love children of a one night stand between a caribbean rum fuelled Brian Wilson and golden locks Point Break Patrick Swayze deliver sharp salt surf fun in the form of riffing and raffing. Less pot smoking than Best Coast and more road trips down whatever major highway appears in all those American movies. Google Map it or something if you’re that interested.

Anamanaguchi - Meow.

If the Nyan cat took the red pill and suddenly become cognitively aware of his fragile pop-tart body existence, he might become disillusioned, drop out of school and form a Japanese electro band. And if that band one day decided to play arcade games while several of them played pokemon on their retro gameboys, Nyan cat might have a moment of fuzzy clarity and get inspired to create this. Good on you Nyan cat; you’re finally making something of yourself!

Hudson Taylor - Battles.

Hudson Taylor have arrived at the folk civil war armed with some fiery strings and fighting flags. Watch your back Mumford and Sons or these clandestine ballad makers might just dance right on your feeling junk.

M Ward- I Get Ideas.

I’ve always liked M Ward. He’s got a slightly less salty Tom Waits style that reminds me of a prom where Buddy Holly insisted everyone grab a fella or a dame and start dancin’. I haven’t been keeping up to date with him though, and missed his latest album completely, then heard this song on the latest episode of Girls and was instantly reminded why he’s the king. A master stroke. 

The View - How Long.

An attention deficit, espresso shot of a song with a frantic, stalker quality that leaps from bushes, appears at your window and is coincidentally at the same bar as you are to ask you out again and again. Unlike those stalkers however, How Long won’t need to work hard at gaining your affection.

Adele- Skyfall.

The new Bond film pays homage to the others in a variety of subtle ways, however using the deep voice of Adele for the theme song in tribute to Shirley Bassey is about as subtle as a PPK to the back of the skull. One part Diamonds are Forever, one part Goldfinger, shaken not sti - no, wait, i’m going to stop myself there because i’m not that guy. Some might get atop their Aston Martin’s and cry bloody foul, but it’s a good song in it’s own right, so ssshh. 

Hall of Mirrors - Love Child.

Creepy, rattling anti-love ballad about an indifferent father and his saddened daughter whose desperation leaves her as gloomy and empty as a winter beach. Chilling and scorching at the same time. 

Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen.

A lot of people were confused when Ellie Goulding started dating Skrillex. Dubstep enthusiasts probably thought he should have been dating someone more underground - dead and buried levels of underground possibly - and males with a Goulding obsession most likely whined while leveling up their night elves. Either way, it’s interesting to know that fact and then listen to her new album, Halycyon. There’s no dubstep as such, but there’s certainly levels of disjointed dance floor bricolage that makes me wonder if she’s trying to impress someone. And it’s not a bad album by any means, in parts it’s great and Ellie’s voice will always carry a certain pop originality, but it just seems too overly stadium ambitious rather than emotive and vulnerable. In parts, it’s just shamefully shallow boring lyrics layered over garage band pop donuts - round and round the beat goes, where it stops…probably sooner rather than later.