Hozier - Work Song
For a guy who looks more timid than a trainee barista, Hozier sure has some ghastly plans for the hereafter. On his song In a Week, he fantasised about perishing in a field with his lover and having their bodies ravished by animals. On this new single he goes one better, singing of a love that won't end even with his death. "No grave can hold my body down," he vows/threatens. "I'll crawl home to her." Hmmm, let's put that one on the maybe pile.

James Bay - Hold Back the River
News that James Bay had shot to the top of the Irish album and singles charts last weekend prompted one burning question across the country: namely, who the hell is James Bay? The 24-year-old English singer- songwriter is a composite of every anodyne mainstream act this country has ever misguidedly taken to its heart. Think James Blunt's annoying falsetto, Ed Sheeran's schlocky turn of phrase, and Kings of Leon's dubious dress sense. We do know how to pick 'em.

Túcan - Teardrop 
Massive Attack's classic 1998 single is tackled here by Sligo instrumentalists Túcan on guitar, brass and violin. The original's ace card was Elizabeth Fraser's mesmeric vocal, which is obviously sorely missed here. But the arrangement retains enough ramshackle charm not quite to come across as muzak. Túcan play Dublin's Button Factory on Saturday, April 4th.

Zayn Malik ft. Naughty Boy - I Won't Mind
Once you've quit the biggest pop act on earth, what's your next move? Robbie Williams taught us a lesson about the price of liberty with his clownish take on Freedom! '90. In career terms, Geri Halliwell's Look at Me solo single proved a masterful feat of reverse psychology. One week out of Shawshank, Zayn Malik drops this: a low- key ballad that should offer solace to distraught fans of his former band – by boring them gently to sleep.