Kiesza - No Enemiesz
On her new single, Kiesza continues to put z's in weird places. Sure, the name might be terrible but the chorus is superb as she euphorically belts "if we could all fall in love together..." over production that sounds like a throwback to the best 90s dance tracks. It's got more lyrical content that Hideaway but sounds more distinct than Giant In My Heart, and that makes it her best single yet.
4/5
Listen: No Enemiesz will feature on her album 'Sound Of A Woman' released next year.
Tove Lo - Timebomb
We all know by now that Tove Lo can write a huge chorus. Timebomb is her biggest yet. The wordy, piano-led, Robyn-esque verses ("I couldn't decide if you were the most annoying human being I'd ever met or the best thing that ever happened") lead into a chorus that leaves you breathless. Pushing back her album 'Queen Of The Clouds' until next year here in the UK (it's out everywhere else in September) is simply a crime against humanity.
4/5
Listen: Timebomb features on debut album 'Queen Of The Clouds' released next year in the UK.
Nick Gardner - Lose You
There's been a lot of chat about Nick Gardner this week, following both his new single hitting the web and a performance at the iTunes Festival supporting Maroon 5. Quite the jump from a few popular YouTube videos. The cheeky-faced singer (think Olly Murs meets Ryan Tedder) is being posed as the next big male popstar by many, but Lose You doesn't show him off to his best. The fizzing electro production appeals, but his actually impressive vocal is drenched in robotic vocoder. Only Phil Collins and Daft Punk can get away with that. It leads to a song that just sounds like, well, Maroon 5. A gold star to the iTunes Festival programming then.
3/5
Listen: Lose You is released in January 2015.
Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
This is the first taste of Rice's first album in eight years, a typical tale of heartbreak that begins politely with delicate acoustic fingerpicking and that pained falsetto. So far, so Damien Rice. Soon though it develops in a whirl of screeching guitars, powerful drums and orchestral strings. Clearly he's been listening to some Jeff Buckley recently - no bad thing. A stunning comeback.
4/5
Listen: The new album of the same name is released on 31st October.
Nick Jonas - Jealous
If you forget that this is a Jonas brother basically doing a Drake impression, then Jealous is actually a decent track. "You're too sexy beautiful and everybody wants a taste / that's why I still get jealous" he croons over an electro R&B groove, clearly hacked off at that other guy making Drake hands at his girl. It might not be original, but expect to see this riding high in the pop charts soon.
3/5
Listen: Jealous is available now in the US.
One Direction - Fireproof
Considering this was released as a free single and was downloaded 1.1m times in just 24 hours, chances are you've probably heard this. You'll know, then, that the boys are increasingly taking themselves more seriously. You'll know that it's taken from their unimaginatively titled (and Beyoncé copying) album 'Four'. You'll know that the sound is very West Coast, with its chilled guitars and lush vocal harmonies (good luck singing it live). And you'll know that it's probably their best single in a while, despite being a little dull.
2/5
Listen: 'Four' is released on 17th November.
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
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If there's one thing that's guaranteed to be more annoying than a 1D record it's a novelty single. All About That Bass is Trainor's ode to body image - all pro-[b]ass and anti skinny bitches. As if female popstars haven't been singing about this since the beginning of time, it's all wrapped up in an irritating doo-wop sound with a sickly pastel shaded video that's only worth seeing for the brilliantly camp dancing guy. No more of this please.
1/5
Listen: All About That Bass is released on 28th September. For the love of God please don't buy it.
Well after that rubbish, let's end on a high. So here's the new video from the ever-sophisticated Jessie Ware (album review coming soon)...
