James Blake is back! And five other songs you may have missed

Hello and welcome to a semi-regular round-up of the music I listened to, made note of, then ran out of time to write about over the last seven days. This week's all-star line-up includes...


1) James Blake - Retrograde
Strap on your dancing boots, because James Blake is BACK with a colossal, David Guetta-produced, arms aloft, handclaps ahoy, tequila-slamming, Ibiza sunrise, dance pop barnstormer.

Oh, alright then. It's a delicate and introspective electro whisper, which sets its tempo by the rise and fall of the tide. But it's so beautiful, we can forgive him anything. The song's called Retrograde, and the video premieres on YouTube this Sunday. Until then, here's Mr Blake introducing the track on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show last night.




2) Hurts - This Song Is Currently Unavailable In Your Territory
It's hard not to laugh at Hurts' comeback single, which is so studiously po-faced it might as well be a Jake Bugg promo photo. Still, the song's really grown on me since it debuted a couple of weeks ago. If you think of it as a good Depeche Mode album track around the Songs Of Faith And Devotion era, it's actually quite enjoyable.

The band uploaded the video to their YouTube account earlier this week, then inexplicably removed it 12 hours later. It's probably a statement about the transience of modern culture or something. But you can recreate the video by closing your eyes, listening to the song via this link, and imagining what it's like working the nightshift at Asda.

3) Josephine - Portrait
I went to see Jospehine play in London on Wednesday when everyone else was at Kraftwerk. I think I got the better deal. Possessed of a deep, gorgeous soul voice that's equal parts Dusty Springfield, Fela Kuti and Tracy Chapman, it's impossible to spot she's from Manchester... Until she talks to the audience, which she does at length, with the same brand of inclusive wit as fellow Mancunian Guy Garvey.

Her new single, Portrait, is currently on Radio 2's playlist, but she's been too busy touring with Paloma Faith to make a video. Instead, here's a Jools Holland performance from last year.



4) Blank Maps - Everything Ends
Blank Maps are a Newcastle band with aspirations to make your lip wobble in a Coldplay style. To be honest, they're not my cup of tea (it turns out cups of tea are my cup of tea) but I'm posting the video because it's the directorial debut of m'verygoodfriend and photographical genius Ms Briggsy. The silhouetted B&W section is one of the best set-ups I've seen in a music video this year.




5) Rhye - Open
Rhye are Canadian / Danish duo who've been described "Sade produced by The xx". This is the opening track to their debut album, Woman, which is out next month. A spacious, thoughtful ballad, it's punctuated by a muted brass phrase that could have been lifted straight from Dionne Warwick's Walk On By. Simply beautiful.




6) The Lumineers - Stubborn Love
It occurred to me last night that I don't know a single person with a Mumford And Sons record. Who buys this stuff? Is everyone secretly hiding their love of banjos? And is it going to lead to a terrifying 2014 revival for The Levellers?

Whatever the answer, The Lumineers have been riding Mumfords' slipstream straight into the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It's hard to begrudge them the success with songs as perfectly crafted as Stubborn Love. Fair warning, though: The video's a bit of a weepie.

Tweet

Portentous pop alert: Hurts are back

Besuited pop sophisticrats Hurts premiered their new single on Radio 1 this morning. It's called Miracle and it finds Theo under a dark cloud. "No love, no light, no end in sight," he intones ominously over a gloomy electro thrum. What a misery-guts, eh readers?.

To be fair, there's an attempt to lift the mood with some sprightly "hoping for a miracle" backing vocals, and the late addition of a tinkly piano riff - but all that achieves is to make the song sound like Keane doing a Depeche Mode cover.

So, Miracles won't damage Hurts's "big in Germany" reputation - but what will it do for their UK fanbase? The jury is out. Which is weird, because I don't think juries normally decide on that sort of thing. Your thoughts, please, in the comments section.

Hurts - Miracle

Tweet

Kylie, The Flaming Lips, Robbie and Gary

With the site out of action for a week or so, there are a few videos I didn't get the chance to mention in a timely and orderly manner. Funnily enough, they're all live performances.

Kylie - Wonderful Life (Live Lounge cover)


Kylie's simmering, orchestral take on the Hurts single is simultaneously uplifting and unsettling. A rare thing of beauty. It's also available on the Radio One website if the YouTube link fails.


The Flaming Lips - The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine


The Flaming Lips' Embryonic is still one of my favourite "mood albums" of the last 12 months, and this buzzing space symphony is one of the standout tracks. Despite the shaky-cam direction, the above performance video (from Pitchfork) provides a rare opportunity to watch this radical band play their instruments without all the ridiculous animal costumes and fake blood.


Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams - Shame (Strictly Performance)


Their first live performance in more than a decade. The watchful, parental eyes of Mr Barlow seem to be having a positive effect on Robbie - who is trying desperately to contain all of those bad habits and vaudeville tics he's picked up during his solo career. Quite a heart-warming little reunion, all told.

Tweet

New Hurts video for old Hurts song

The whole Hurts campaign has been a bit of a mystery to me. What is it with all the ballerinas? Why has Ingmar Bergman been exhumed to direct all of their videos? Why are they trying so desperately hard to look like the Pet Shop Boy Juniors?

Anyway, the grinding tedium of their self-important "image" aside, the band have some quite good songs. Wonderful Life is one of them. And, having received a limited release last year, it's coming out properly on 23 August.

This calls for a new video. It features a swimming pool, some architecture and - you guessed it - ballerinas.

The band sneakily allowed people to embed it earlier this week, then changed their minds, leading to lots of pop blogs with broken black boxes on their front page.

I'm not falling for that trick, so here's a picture of the artwork (caution: pretentious). If you click on it, you will be transported magically to the safe arms of YouTube to see the clip "in full".



If you liked that song (welcome back!) you should also try the superior Arthur Baker remix and the above-average Freemasons dance reswizzle.

Tweet

New video: Hurts - Better Than Love

They've made a few changes to the X Factor audition process this year.

Hurts - Better Than Love

Tweet