SHUFFLE: EOIN BUTLER's guide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Zero
Polydor
*****
"Shake it like a ladder to the sun/ Can you climb, climb, climb high enough?" yelps Karen O on this absolute blockbuster of a comeback single from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Taken from their (now) eagerly awaited Its Blitz!album.
VANESSA JENKINS, BRYN WEST, TOM JONES, ROBIN GIBB
Islands in the Stream: BBC Comic Relief 2009
Mercury
**
Who exactly are Vanessa Jenkins and Bryn West? What did Robin Gibb do to merit his credit? And wasn't there a different Comic Relief record just last week? (Yes, The Saturdays' Just Can't Get Enough.) Alas, like one of Shakespeare's problem plays, this charity record ultimately throws up far more questions than it answers.
PJ HARVEY AND JOHN PARISH
Black Hearted Love
Island
****
Sex and murder . . . again? Polly Harvey really broadens her horizons on this opening track from A Woman a Man Walked By. The album, a second collaboration with John Parish, is a follow-up to 1996’s Dance Hall at Louse Point.
SNOW PATROL
If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It
Polydor
**
Another Snow Patrol video, another rugged landscape, another plaintive cry in the wilderness about – well, who really cares what? If there’s a skip button, would someone kindly do the honours.
JAMIE FOXX FT T-PAIN
Blame It
J Records
***
“Blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol.” The Oscar-winning actor pulls out all the stops for this video, with cameos from Ron Howard, Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Samuel L Jackson and Cedric the Entertainer. The result is akin to a high-budget remake of one of those cautionary “drink responsibly” ads Diageo ran a few years ago. Cut down on the Hennessey y’all, or you might end up foolishly asking T-Pain to be your guest rapper!
STARSAILOR
Tell Me It's Not Over
Virgin
**
James Walsh's relationship may be floundering but, with exhortations as keenly observed as "If you love someone, don't throw it all away", his dream of landing an agony aunt column at CosmoGirlstill looks to be well on track.
