Snow Patrol, aka the Coldplay it's ok to like, have produced some great videos for their current album, Fallen Empires. Effortlessly likeable first single Called Out In The Dark was accompanied by a cheeky clip that saw lead singer Gary Lightbody thrown off his own set for being a useless pop star.
For their latest release, In The End, the band took over the LA Theatre for a spot of ballroom dancing. Stick around to the end to see some truly spectacular lifts.
Thanks for your patience while I've been off in Africa for a month... It was an incredible trip. Heartbreaking and breathtaking. Beautiful and desolate. As you can see above, the school we visited in the remote village of Kongwa was bursting with exuberance despite the shortcomings in food and finance and elementary learning materials. Hopefully we'll be back before long.
So, what have I missed? A quick scan of my favourite internet websites suggests the music industry didn't take August off for once... Here's the best stuff I've seen so far.
1) LADY FINALLY LAYS THOSE PENIS RUMOURS TO REST
The gender-bending video for Yoü & I is what experts would term a "return to form" for pop's premier pixel pervert. A country and western version of Frankenstein's Bride, it continues Gaga's theme of beauty and decay. As well as dressing as a slack-jawed yokel, she poses in a fabulous hat, transforms into a mermaid in a bathtub and a sets up a terriffic reverse dolly shot at 3'30". Well done.
2) THE RETURN OF THE AMPERSANDS
Florence and Marina and the Machine and the Diamonds are back to trouble your eardrums. Hooray!
Marina has added new layers of confusing nomenclature by channelling her new songs through Electra Heart. Her bleach blonde heroine is not an alter ego but a character in a modern Greek tragedy, as she explained to Popjustice. The new single is called Radioactive, which is an excellent song masquerading as a moronic radio hit. And that's the really clever bit.
Marina released another Electra Heart video last week, called Fear And Loathing. It acts as a scene-setter for the single and is, I suspect, the better song.
Florence Welch, meanwhile, unveiled the first track from the follow-up to her multi-million-seller Lungs on Tuesday. It's something of a slow burner, but the final minute is the best psychedelic rock wig-out you'll hear this side of Christmas. The video also reveals Florence's hitherto unacknowledged debt to Miranda Hart's choreography.
Gary Lightbody shows off his comedy chops in the video for Called Out In The Dark - which also stars Jack "Pirates Of The Caribbean" Davenport. The escalation of the storyline is beautifully done, and the song's not bad either.
6) NICOLA ROBERTS DANCES IN THE STREET Beat Of My Drum didn't quite set the charts on fire. In fact, it barely produced enough heat to warm a crumpet. That didn't stop it being brilliant, though. Nicola's follow-up, Lucky Day, is more obviously radio friendly but a much weaker song. Radio 1 have passed on it, and mrsdiscopop described it as "Kylie crossed with Cilla Black". Oh dear.
