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Alphabeat's "DJ"

Danish six-piece Alphabeat didn’t get the attention they deserved with the release of their second album The Beat Is… and are now hoping their next single from the album will bring them back into the spotlight. My first thoughts: “Hmm, not much chance with it being the third single and everything…” Then: “WAIT, IT’S DJ?!” Place in the spotlight secured. The song has been edited for the mainstream single release but thankfully doesn’t lose any of it’s original charm and the name on everyone’s mind will be DJ (I Could Be Dancing) rather than simply DJ.

Just like the entire album, the official video is more 90s than denim overalls, furbies, Mr Blobby, MC Hammer pants, orange soda and the power rangers all made into some weird inedible 90s soup, and I love it. It features a lot of pretty amazing outfits (does Stine’s neon make-up midway through make anyone else think she looks like a parrot? Maybe the neon make-up/parrot section of my brain’s just a bit messed up) and some awkward dancing by the boys atop of a giant revolving turntable. The result is what’s definitely their best video to date. And if the idea of all the spinning hypnotic-looking circles was part of some sort of sinister plan to hypnotise us into watching over and over again, congratulations guys.

We might not be able to get our hands on the downright amazeballs 100,000″ vinyls from the video, or Stine’s record head-piece that I’m thinking of stealing; but we can have something very nearly as cool: 12″ singles with (wait for it…) sticker sheets! Don’t sound disappointed, my many dreams of customizing Alphabeat records with different labels can now be a reality. All three formats come with Biffco’s remix and many more are included over the CD, 12″ and digital release that shouldn’t disappoint judging by past remixes. We’ll be able to check them all out on May 31st! DJ is guaranteed to do well, Alphabeat have made one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a long time!

Marina And The Diamonds' "I Am Not A Robot"

Marina Diamandis’ third single from her debut album The Family Jewels is a re-release of the brilliant I Am Not A Robot. At first I was a bit unsure if the re-release was a good idea, there are still a few tracks tracks that have so much potential if they were chosen as a single, but now I have to agree with Marina; “people seem to empathize and relate with the song, regardless of gender or age” which will definitely make it a crowd-pleaser and show people she can be successful with something completely different to her breakthrough single Hollywood. The single release of Robot comes with a shiny new drum beat which helps to make the song even more of a belter along with Marina’s heartfelt and as powerful as ever vocals.

To go with the slight changes within the song, Marina has released something you can’t exactly call a new video and isn’t meant to be a new video either. Okay, it’s really just her walking down Hollywood Boulevard with some sort of PVA glue/shampoo she forgot to wash out in her hair while lip-syncing to her song and getting some weird looks from people passing by. But it’s really quite good. Thankfully the official video is still the original directed by Rankin and Chris Cottam, featuring lots of glitter, paint, dramatic arm movements and hair blowing in the fake wind. You can always still enter the video remake competition if you have a better idea!

The sparkling pop-gem Shampain has already been lined up as the fourth single for a late June release, I’m hoping Girls will be next. I Am Not A Robot is out April 26th in the UK; the EP comes with three remixes including Clock Opera’s and also an acoustic version.

Electrocute - Legs Le Brock and Nicole Morier

I’ve waited over a week since I discovered Electrocute to write about them, just to make sure they’re as good as I thought on first listen. Since then I’ve bought both their albums, both their EPs and can say for sure that they’re one of the best kept secrets in music! Nicole Morier and Legs Le Brock come together as Electrocute to make dirty electro-rock they describe as “heavy metal bubblegum meets spaghetti western disco”, that’s about as accurate as you can get. The Gummi Zelle (or ‘Rubber Room’ for those of us who aren’t quite fluent in German) is Nicole’s L.A studio where the danceable drum-beats, edgy guitar riffs, shiny synth, other electro sounds and sassy playground-style vocals are all brought together, the result is Electrocute’s unique sound that I can’t help but love.

The band’s debut EP A Tribute To Your Taste was released way back in 2003 when Mia Dime was part of the duo (now replaced by Le Brock). It includes the risqué I Love My Daddy and their cover of Sexual Harassment’s I Need A Freak with one of the best beats I’ve heard in a while and synth used in the exact way it should be. Their first full-length album entitled Troublesome Bubblegum is much more guitar-led than their other releases, with highlights including opener Tales Of Ordinary Sadness, Blow It that has what are the most fun vocals on the entire album and Kleiner Dicker Junge (they must have a thing for German); and with tracks with names like Shag Ball and Fun Is A Floppy Bitch the album’s sure to be a hit if you like bold music, which I definitely do.

After a short break Legs Le Brock joined the duo and they started work on their second EP, On The Beat. All five tracks from the EP are featured on their follow-up album Double Diamond; I prefer the album by far to the first so it’s a shame it was exclusively released in Japan and is hard to get hold of, but if you do it’s worth it! The album is a lot more electro-pop than electro-rock, with less guitar and more of what they’d call ‘crazy sounds’, but the vocals and beats are as infectious as ever with no filler tracks at all. Singles taken from it include On The Beat which comes with a video featuring  Nicole and Legs’ dream of disco heaven being interrupted by topless shrimp-women; as crazy as it sounds, it reflects their music well! Other stand-out tracks are the downright fun Bad Legs, the more downtempo On The Runway and Uh-Oh with what are the catchiest lyrics of all.

In just a week Electrocute have became one of my favourite bands and look to stay that way for a long time! If you like anything from New Young Pony Club‘s earlier work to Cansei De Ser Sexy you should give them a go and may even begin to love them as much as I do, be sure to click on the song name links to listen to them all!

Eliza Doolittle's "Skinny Genes"

Way back in 2009 singer-songwriter Eliza Doolittle released the video for her first major single and over four months later the song is finally ready for release; but it’s easily worth the wait, Skinny Genes is almost guaranteed to be the happiest song you hear this year! Eliza clearly knows how to make a good pop-song, the foot-tapping beat, catchy whistling and cheeky lyrics make it pure pop goodness that never fails to put a smile on your face. This is definitely the best time for the song to be released, it could easily become a big summer anthem and make Eliza one of the biggest newcomers of this year, something she really deserves! Almost no details have emerged about her imminent first full-length album, due for release sometime in May/June, but you can listen to some of what can be expected on her MySpace, including my personal favourite Back To Front which became popular after she performed it live at London Fashion Week. A tell-tale sign of her getting more popular is when a Google search brings up more results relating to her rather than the Pygmalion character.

Skinny Genes is released April 12th and comes backed with Police Car, a more down-tempo song that was first featured on her debut EP and contrasts perfectly, and also the Slugz And Joe London Mix. Eliza also told me over Twitter that it should be getting a vinyl release.

Kate Nash's "Do Wah Doo"

Kate Nash returns this April with her new single entitled Do Wah Doo. While the title may become annoying after while, the song is just annoyingly-addictive. The sixties girl-group inspired ditty sees a slight musical change for Kate with bursts of brass and surfy guitar rather than simple piano melodies, but most of us will be pleased to see that her signature and somewhat predictable vocal style and lyrics have stayed the same and in true Nash style the song wraps up with the brutally honest statement: “I think she’s a bitch”. The song comes with a music video featuring Kate and her friends posing as all-singing, all-dancing flight attendants and passengers on a flight set sometime in the sixties. We see her as a lovestruck stewardess watching while her favourite steward is seduced by someone she calls a shady lady (I guess she’s the ‘bitch’ mentioned). Every time I listen to the track I feel myself loving the “ba bom ba bom ba” hook even more, if anything I wish it was longer than just over two and a half minutes!

Do Wah Doo is released 12th April and the 7″ comes with two exclusive tracks: Grrrilla Munch and R n B Side. The track is taken from the album My Best Friend Is You, due for release a week later on 19th April.

Update: The Do Wah Doo EP is out now on iTunes, and it comes with the best freaking remix I’ve ever heard! Nick Zinner’s Clock Tower Remix almost sounds like a retro live version of the song, it’s what remixes should be like!

Gabriella Cilmi's "Ten"

She may be just eighteen, but Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi has already reinvented herself in time for her second album. It was a brave move completely changing her sound from that on award-winning debut Lessons To Be Learned, but it was definitely worth the risk, if anything the comparisons to Amy Winehouse might finally stop. For follow-up Ten, Cilmi mainly ditches the almost bluesy sound and instead opts for assertive disco-influenced pop that says one thing: “I’m here, I’m a woman and I’m ready for business”; a message that is pretty much summed up in opening track and lead single On A Mission.

Ten is a mix of uptempo, synth-filled stompers such as Hearts Don’t Lie, Boys and Invisible Girl and is balanced out with powerful ballads that show-off Gabriella’s vocals: Glue, Defender and Superman. Highlights include Superhot, an extremely danceable and catchy tune that’s more eighties than leg-warmers; and the rememberable Let Me Know with it’s heartfelt lyrics – “Let me know, you’re in over you’re head. Let me know, if you don’t I just might lose control”. The album finishes off with a “twenty-ten version” of Gabriella’s easily most recognisable song Sweet About Me, which perfectly bridges the gap between the contrasting genres in her two albums that make us wonder which direction she could go in next.

3.5/5 – Much more than mediocre!

Ten is released March 22nd in the UK.

Track listing: 1. On A Mission 2. Hearts Don’t Lie 3. What If You Knew 4. Love Me Cos You Want To 5. Defender 6. Robots 7. Superhot 8. Boys 9. Invisible Girl 10. Glue 11. Let Me Know 12. Superman 13. Sweet About Me (Twenty Ten Version) 14. Sucker For Love (iTunes-only bonus track)

New Young Pony Club's "The Optimist"

New Young Pony Club have changed since the 2007 release of their debut album Fantastic Playroom; not only has bassist Igor Volk left the band and the band have left their record label to start one of their very own (‘The Numbers’), but their sound has also gone through a distinct change. As the name suggests, their first album was full of playful pop-rock led by Tahita Bulmer’s signature playground-style vocals. In The Optimist the vocals are a lot more powerful and the overall sound of the album is generally a lot darker. The Ponies have perhaps moved on from writing music that hasn’t much meaning and focuses simply on being enjoyable as certain parts of their second album delve into previously ignored emotional territories. Highlights from the album include the perfectly structured We Want To with an instantly infectious keyboard riff and chorus chanting, “We want to, I don’t want to do any of this without you”; and Dolls, an upbeat anthem backed by Sarah’s strong and pounding drums.

NYPC have had a lot of work self-producing, self-funding and self-releasing an album that had a lot to live up to, but it definitely paid-off and the quality of music hasn’t been compromised in any way. Even if you weren’t too sure about their debut, you should definitely give The Optimist a listen and it may surprise you.

4/5 – One away from perfect!

The Optimist is released on March 8th in the UK.

Track listing: 1. Lost A Girl 2. Chaos 3. The Optimist 4. Stone 5. We Want To 6. Dolls 7. Before The Light 8. Oh Cherie 9. Rapture 10. Architect Of Love

Kate Nash

Kate Nash is set to make a big comeback in April, edgier than ever. In anticipation for the April album release, Nash has made I Just Love You More available for download; it takes us all by surprise and reveals a lot about what we can expect in the future from our favourite songstress. The song is about as far away from anything on her debut Made Of  Bricks as possible. Gone are the simple piano tunes and witty playground-style lyrics that many of us fell in love with back in 2008, instead Kate delivers a garage-rock belter with dirty wails of guitar and straight laced spoken vocals that by midway transform into powerful rock screams and moans that remind me more of Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs than anything else. Although the track couldn’t be more unexpected, I’m finding myself slowly liking it more and more.

I Just Love You More is available for download here and is taken from her second album, due for release on April 20th. Although, the album is yet untitled, a track-listing has been released including the first potentially annoyingly titled single from album called Doo Wah Doo.

1. You’ll Never Listen 2. Kiss That Girl 3. Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt? 4. I Just Love You More 5. Do Wah Doo 6. Higher Plane 7. I’ve Got A Secret 8. Oh Jay 9. Later On 10. Pickpocket 11. You Were So Far Away 12. I Hate Seagulls

Marina and the Diamonds' "The Family Jewels"

Marina Diamandis‘ debut album has been two years in the making, every day of which more than worthwhile for the end product: The Family Jewels, a truly unique and dazzling debut. The album has everything from sparkling and theatrical pop gems (Shampain, Hollywood, Oh No!), to heartfelt piano-backed ballads (I Am Not A Robot, Obsessions, Numb) and the quirky classics that make Marina downright different (Mowgli’s Road). Her eccentric and powerful vocals are showcased well in every track, I Am Not A Robot and Guilty perhaps being her best songs vocally.

The most refreshing thing about The Family Jewels is the unconventional lyrics, it’s amazing to find an album that isn’t full of love songs. The only song Marina says is “about love” is Hermit The Frog, and even that doesn’t immediately strike the listener as a love song, it’s a brilliantly catchy rework of a song that originally appeared on her first-ever EP and now fits perfectly into place just over two years later. Not opting for the usual, Marina’s bizarre yet meaningful lyrics cover topics from not being a stereotypical female in the witty and wonderful Girls “Girls they never befriend me ‘cos I fall asleep when they speak of all the calories they eat”; to alienation in the world of celebrity in The Outsider “All I know is I cannot pretend, I’m sitting on the outside again”; and our obsession with American culture in Hollywood “Hollywood infected your brain, you wanted kissing in the rain”.

At first I thought it would surely be impossible for a track on the album to stand out more than Mowgli’s Road with it’s “cuckoo” shrieks, that was until I heard Oh No!. It’s instantly infectious from the very first listen and, along with a great electro-pop beat and lyrics that show-off Marina’s song-writing ability,  has one of the catchiest choruses I’ve heard in a long time, it can be played over and over again and still leave you wanting more. The song was only added to the track listing in November after Marina wrote it while in L.A, now I can’t imagine the album without it.

Marina’s hugely anticipated debut lives up to all the hype, it’s one of the most exciting albums of this year and makes you wonder what she can do next to top such a shining debut!

4.5/5- Very nearly perfect

Track listing: 1. Are You Satisfied? 2. Shampain 3. I Am Not a Robot 4. Girls 5. Mowgli’s Road 6. Obsessions 7. Hollywood 8. The Outsider 9. Hermit The Frog 10. Oh No! 11. Rootless 12. Numb 13. Guilty 14. The Family Jewels (iTunes only track).

The Family Jewels will be released on 22nd February in the UK.