Alexis Jordan - How You Like Me Now

How You Like Me Now is a bit of a random one - at this point in an artist's album campaign, they're looking for a radio-friendly single that will wrap up sales for the album with a nice little boost.

And that's exactly how this track feels - a nice little boost. Nothing more, nothing less. With its scrawly, Arabian-esque synth-brass hook, it sees Alexis shuffling towards a more middle-of-the-road R&B direction; a kind of second-rate Rihanna.

Now, this might be all well and good on its own - after all, the song's not a bad little number, but we fell in love with Alexis for her all out disco-stompers, and there remains on her album one of the very best of an excellent bunch.

And that track comes in the form of High Road, a jaw-droppingly good bit of beat-heavy electro-pop. Snappy, feisty vocals - this is Alexis down to a T, all her personality, fire and charm packed into three minutes of WOW. This, for me, would have been the logical single.

How You Like Me Now can be downloaded from iTunes here.

(Video) Cher Lloyd - Swagger Jagger

It was always going to happen. As much as I didn't want it to, as much as I told myself that this song would never end up on my iPod - it has. And you know why? Because the video for Cher Lloyd's debut single Swagger Jagger is a bit brilliant.

The thing is, this looks like the video for a Number One single. If I was managing Cher, this is the kind of video I would have made. it's colourful, it's young, it's trendy. It suits her.

The bouncy, bright graphics are great - and the lyrics popping up like comic-book captions are a nice touch too.

Most obviously though, Cher looks amazing. Like properly gorgeous. Her hair is all 'did', and she bears quite possibly her most striking resemblance to her X Factor mentor Cheryl to date.

The final studio version of the track has some rather subtle tweaks to it too - nothing major but enough to iron out some of the most irritating bits of the demo version that leaked first.

Yup, there's the most shameless product placement ever (ok, maybe not as shameless as the Mercedes placement in the new Transformers movie) - but really, do you need to have one of those glossy shots of Cher operating her mobile phone not just once, but twice?!

At times the video does feel a little Party At The Underage Disco! (Free bottle of WKD with entry!), but on the whole I really, really like it. Like the best videos, it's managed to make me not only tolerate the track, but like it. Perhaps in time I'll even love it.

Swagger Jagger is released on the 1st August and is available to download from iTunes here. The digital package includes remixes by HyGrade, the Wideboys, Dillon Francis and Eyes.