Imagine if Clock Opera really made music that sounded like a timepiece aria: A tinny cacophony of ticks, tocks, buzzes, bells and the occasional cuckoo.
Luckily, Clock Opera don't do that. Instead, the London-based quartet record the sound of an Apple Mac having hiccups onto a piano. Then they get Guy Connelly to croon all over it with his haunting tenor.
Their new single is in fact their old single, Once And For All, with a bit of spit and polish for 2012. Appropriately for the New Year, the lyrics are an exhortation to pursue your dreams: "Get up, get out. Stand up and shout your name / Don't be afraid to get in the way again."
The video stars veteran character actor Dudley Sutton, who became a cult star in the 1960s after playing a gay biker in taboo-busting British drama The Leather Boys. His character pays heed to the song's central message and, after years of hesitating, plucks up the courage to talk to the object of his affections.
A few morsels of music for the Marathon weekend...
1) Zooey Deschanel & M Ward - Winnie The Pooh
Don't get Mrsdiscopop started on the Disney-fication of AA Milne's chubby bear. But the house of mouse has redeemed itself by getting dreamy Zooey Deschanel to soundtrack the latest film from 100 Acre Wood. Whimsical.
2) Santigold ft Karen O - Go
This popped up on Jay-Z's new Life + Times website last night (it's basically a pimped up Huffington Post). Produced by Q-Tip, it's a welcome return for the palatable M.I.A.
3) The Naked & Famous - The Sun
New Zealand's Naked & Famous are going to be my festival band of the summer. Their debut - Passive Me, Aggressive You - is a really smart, intricate pop album. If you've only heard the bright and punchy singles, take a listen to this session track for an idea of how they blossom over the course of 50 minutes.
4) Clock Opera - Belongings
Clock Opera is Guy Connelly, production whiz and all-round chop-pop guru. His version of Marina And The Diamonds' I Am Not A Robot was undeniably the best remix of 2010, and his new single is just as good. Vocally, he sounds uncannily like Guy Garvey, but this record has none of Elbow's po-faced aspirations towards deep'n'meaningful artistic statements. It is just very good indeed.
5) Tim & Jean - Come Around
Here's another Antipodean pop act who bear more than a passing resemblance to Passion Pit. Tim & Jean are teenagers Tim Ayre and Jean-Christophe Capotorto - the latter of which is the best pop star name since Dananananaykroyd.
6) Ghost Poet - Survive It
Coventry-born rapper Ghost Poet has one of those voices that would sound calm and reassuring, even if he was reading Mein Kampf to a kindergarten. Luckily, he's a bit more responsible than that... In fact, this single brings to mind Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth, both lyrically and musically. It also serves as a trailer for the magnificently-titled album Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam.
