Dry The River - The Chambers & The Valves / Shallow Bed

2012, and something exciting is spilling forth from London's East End. No, not just the Olympics, but Dry The River, arguably one of the most promising new UK bands to spring up from the capitals run of indie nights - for them, 2012 is the year they stand as part of the prestigious BBC Sound Of... list.

It's an accolade they can wear with pride - the five-piece's tunes are steeped in lush, sumptuous harmonies, basking in idyllic soundscapes of promise and hope that make forthcoming debut album Shallow Bed seem even more tantalisingly distant - it's not released until March.

Recent single Weights & Measures is precisely the kind of big, folky soup of loveliness that seems to be all the rage at the moment, blending the best of Mumford & Sons' epic chorus overtones with the darker, more moody elements of Fleet Floxes.

It's a hearty broth, the sort of warming, wholesome stuff that feels perfect for the winter months. As 2011 ticks over into 2012, three singles releases and a UK-wide tour behind them, now more than ever seems to be their moment to shine.

New single The Chambers & The Valves is without a doubt their strongest effort to date - vibrant and uplifting, it lilts towards an inspiring new upbeat angle, ripe with halcyon sunshine-spilled guitar licks. Dry The River have always sounded like an organic band, one at one with their surroundings and the feyness of the world - but here, they appear positively steeped in the essence of the effervescence of the countryside.

With the weight of the BBC Sound of 2012 longlist nomination behind them, that tumbling babbling brook is growing stronger - no mere stream anymore, Dry The River now run at full flow.

The Chambers & The Valves is released on the 27th February, followed by the album Shallow Bed on the 5th March.

Bike This Way... The new Lady Gaga album cover

Let's just stop for a minute and analyse the new Lady Gaga album cover.

Lady Gaga as a bike. That's the gist of it. Well, all of it really. Against a completely black background, there she is, all silver and chrome. What is this saying about her? Is she a machine, an actual 'bike', or does it all represent some far more complicated metaphor that is impossible to decipher. Only Gaga knows.

And then there's the font, equally dramatic and chrome-like. I guess what strikes me most is how far removed stylistically this is from the single cover of the same name. The font is completely different, and for me, it takes away so much in momentum. I guess the fierce, black and white quality remains, but beyond that, all that stands is the fact that... Lady Gaga is a bike. It's quite hard to get over.

If you are a bike, do you still rejoice and love yourself today because you were born as a two wheeled, gasoline drinking machine? I'm not sure. I guess it has its merits - It's faster than walking at any rate; definitely a handy attribute to have if you're going to be touring the world regularly playing all your new songs. But how do you hold a microphone if you have no hands and your arms are attached to a wheel?

And the last thing that strikes me is how retro the whole thing looks. It's like a mash-up between Metallica's Ride The Lightning and Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell: