Alexander Price - Rent

The eternal dangers of covering a well-known song. There are those pop standards, those landmarks of modern culture, that need to be handled with caution; the most careful of touches.

The Pet Shop Boys' Rent is one of those songs, a mainstay of radio station 'oldie' playlists across the country - it is a track ingrained in the British consciousness, a song that sums up British culture as much as it does the sound of the Pet Shop Boys themselves.

Kudos must be given then to young singer-songwriter Alexander Price for taking on the track himself. A former pupil of the esteemed Syvlvia Young Theatre School and with the track produced by Ben Dobie (whose previous work includes material with Kylie and Dannii Minogue, the Sugababes and Bananarama), the pop credentials seem to be all there.

As a massive Pet Shop Boys fan, it feels pretty alien not to be hearing Neil Tennant's voice on Rent; but it must be said, Price certainly puts his own stamp on the song. Extremely OTT and fantastically camp, his version takes some getting used to but undeniably picks up once the chorus kicks in.

Best is the track's buzz-saw synth laced production; it's fun, modern, yet still possesses the hidden menace of the 80s original.