Snow Patrol - In The End

In many ways, In The End is a kind of meeting point between all the various sounds and incarnations Snow Patrol have manifested themselves as over the years. In particular, it acts as the halfway house between the previous two singles from their ace Fallen Empires album.

While the LP as a whole came across as a remarkably consistent body of work, standout singles seemed few and far between, so to a degree, In The End, with the resonance of its biblical-referencing key refrain 'we put these childish things away' always seemed like one of the more obvious choices.

While the track's opening is pretty standard Snow Patrol fare, the latter choruses resound with shimmery guitar chords and a real crystalline beauty - a more elegant form of the band, the production gleams with glacial beauty that recalls synth-rockers Delphic. Perhaps that, then, is where the band's future lies...

In The End lacks the sheer power and hook-quality of past Snow Patrol singles, but it more than makes up for it in terms of the new directions it pushes in. The middle-eight alone is the sound of a band still very much in their prime, still operating in the upper echelons of British rock.

In The End is released on the 13th February.

The Sound Of Arrows - Nova

Fans of the very best in synth-pop delight - The Sound of Arrows deliver skyrocketing synths on a suitably interstellar scale in brilliant new single Nova. Remixing the likes of Lady Gaga and Alphabeat, the Swedish duo have carved out quite a name for themselves and with tracks as commanding and attention-grabbing as Nova, it's hard not to stop and take heed.

If the likes of Delphic whetted your appetite for immaculately produced slipstreams of electronic magic, then The Sound of Arrows provide the perfect fix. Combining anthemic keyboard hooks that synth-pop legends Erasure and Pet Shop Boys would be proud of with thundering club basslines, Nova is that moment of pure bliss and unadultered joy in the heart of a crowded dancefloor. Achingly beautiful yet enfused with what sounds like the power of a hundred nuclear reactors, the chorus is a tale of longing; a yearning for 'something better'. And have I mentioned that two-some's singer is called Stefan Storm? Quite possibly one of the coolest names in pop, and also somehow brilliantly fitting to the images of lightning-split skies Nova's towering crescendo of synths conjures up.

Breathtaking, exhilarating; if ever a song could capture pure electricity, then Nova would be it.

Nova is released 25th April.

Starlings - Weight In Gold

Starlings explode onto your stereo with a blistering blend of glossy synths, Duran Duran-esque basslines and the energy to match any of their contemporaries. Weight In Gold is a stunning debut for the Sheffield based band, the track hypnotising in its beauty and the shimmering catchiness of its chorus before tripping effortlessly into a twinkling guitar solo.

Fans of New Order and Delphic will find lots to love here, but what marks Starlings out in their own right is the organic feel to their music; it feels alive, fresh, more ‘human’. The band’s Facebook page describes them as ‘cosmic indie funk’, and there really could be no more perfect description than that. All the elements are there, capturing the essence of why Starlings hold so much potential to appeal to the masses.

There is most definitely a sense of ‘spaciness’ to there songs, that feeling of a fast expanse that their music flows into, a space of unlimited potential just waiting to be tapped into. ‘It’s a long, long way to fall, when you hover above us all’: a snatch of lyrics from the chorus, and when the Starlings sound as good as this, we’re all ready to fall further and further alongside them.

Released 20th December