Alexandra Burke - Elephant

It's been one of the most anticipated pop singles in recent months, and with a number of shifted release dates, the first single from Alexandra Burke's second album was starting to look like it might falter before it even got started. But hearing the full radio version of the single blows all doubts away in an instant: it's a full-throttle adrenaline rush of a song that hurtles from hard electro filth to nuclear reactor synth blasts.

For me, Elephant is the ultimate in dance-pop allure - a dark, sensual ride of apocalyptic rhythms and teetering bass - it remains definitively commercial whilst re-positioning Alexandra as an uncompromising disco diva. When she goes in, she goes in to win.

And of course, Elephant wouldn't be an Alexandra Burke without a sky-piercing high note in the middle-eight where she gets to show off the true extent of vocal acrobatics she can accomplish. In short, it owns - Ok.Com?

Sure, it might lack the uber-refined nature of her classic singles, it more than makes up for it with its dirty electronic rawness. This is Alexandra at her most dancey to date, a Euro-smash monster to slay dancefloors across the country and beyond. It's the sound of an artist that has left the X Factor for dust behind her, moving ever onwards and upwards to better things - the sound of a proper popstar.

Elephant is released on the 12th March.

Elephant by CaptainGravity

The Saturdays - Not That Kinda Girl

The Saturdays have a record of delivering amazing b-sides - always a sign of a truly great pop group. And Not That Kinda Girl (the b-side to Notorious) does much to continue that trend.

Grinding electro basslines and dub-step influences worked into the track too, it's a classy slice of dancefloor magic.

There's lots of flirty, teasing lyrics too - The Sats girls making it plain that they're in charge here - 'I'm gonna break your heart, tear it up cos that's the way I work' and 'No one-man-woman, I'm free to roam, I'll blow you kisses down the telephone'.

If this is a b-side, we can only speculate in awe at the kind of sheer amazingness that might be on offer on The Saturdays' new album, out later this year.

Sounds of Nonno - The Crush EP

Signed to new Swedish label Jammerdosa, Sounds of Nonno are a quirky three-piece specialising in tranquil, minimal electro. The title track of their new EP The Crush abounds in bleepy videogame synths, paired with almost child-like vocals; imagine, if you will, a less forceful incarnation of Robyn.

But it's not all airy dreamscapes and twinkly electronic magic though - the basslines throb with a threat of far darker influences and in the last minute of the title track as the synths are fully 'let loose', so to speak, the track blooms outwards wonderfully.

The dance influences are felt more strongly on second track No Escape, this time led by a male vocal. An essence of fellow Scandanavian synth-poppers a-Ha seems to breathe itself into the track at times, whilst at others it seems firmly set in the clubland scene. Trance-like and beautifully melodic in its most intense moments, the whispy, ethereal cries stream all around you like the Northern Lights; shimmering streams of opalescent magic.

Into the Floor explores into more vague territory; the female vocals are back, this time stretching into a Bjork-esque siren-song. The band are at the fullest extent of their scale here, accomplishing the vision of 'arena-electro' they describe themselves at.

A lot can be said for music taking you on a kind of 'journey', but with the momentum of the pounding club beats and the eerie synthetic walls of sound Sounds of Nonno conjure up, it's a journey that's distinctly enjoyable.

More info on the release of the EP can be found here.

JMD005: Sounds of Nonno - The Crush by Jämmerdosa

Blank Disco - From Zero

Combining elements of techno and ambient, Blank Disco is the bran-child of electronica artist Dan Seville. From early beginnings in 2009, album From Zero is the culmination of two years of work and feels as much a piece of art as a record.

From the cold, mechanical beats and slow electro pulse of opener NYC, a wondrous futuristic sci-fi world is conjured up. Gradually accelerating like an engine, the track picks up speed, almost as if the inner workings of a computer have suddenly been made audible - this is music distinctly for the information age. Heavily distorted vocal samples enter the mix, creating the sound of a busy station of city intersection. The listener becomes one being, lost and alone in a vast crowd; the throbbing heartbeat of a city like NYC itself recreated perfectly. All the while, synthesizers writhe and whip like snakes; lashing out and snipping away, harsh and unforgiving.

From this point on however, the album takes on a far more laid back approach. Midsummer sees the beats fade away to a gentle sizzle, frying in the intensity of the mid-day sun. Rhythmic and hypnotic, as with the entirety of the album, every element of the song is clinical to the extreme. Even Numbers moves on to portray a different landscape - it feels watery, swamp-like; everything floating on a bed of bubbling electronics. It's a sound that continues into Where Are They Now? where it takes on a far darker, more melancholy tone. It's a moment to stop and contemplate, to speculate on the missing 'they' of the song's title.

With no vocals on the album, your attention is focused completely and utterly on the crystalline complexity of the tracks themselves and as the pace picks up again on No Good Reason and Falling Water, we see the album come full circle. There are so many levels you can take this album on - viewed from afar, with its icy blue modernist cover art, it feels minimalistic and hyper-artistic. But zooming in, the details work themselves out, coming to life in the most beautiful of ways.

From Zero is released on the 13th June.

Nicola Roberts inspired by Robyn and M.I.A.

Metronomy's Joe Mount has revealed a little more about Nicola Roberts' solo album - "We did two tracks together, one of them is a bit more electronic-sounding" he told The Sun. "She was really into Robyn and M.I.A. I was surprised but it's a good place for her to start."

Can we expect some tracks like Paper Planes and With Every Heartbeat on Nicola's solo album then? We'll just have to wait and see...

Sarah Harding lining up new dance collab with 'Sympho Nympho'

We've had Cheryl, Nadine and Kimberley releasing solo singles (albeit Kimba's being as a featured artist with Aggro Santos) and Nicola's album is due out shortly, but what is Sarah Harding up to these days? We've had a little taste of her music on the St. Trinian's soundtrack album and there have been rumours of her working with Roger Sanchez for a while now. But here's something else...


She's been working on a track with dance outfit Sympho Nympho. Comprised of producers Erick Morillo, Harry 'Choo Choo' Romero and Jose Nunez, the various members of the 'electro crossover band' have been tweeting about what they've been up to with the no-longer-blonde member of Girls Aloud. Exciting stuff!

Britney Spears - Till The World Ends

When I first heard Hold It Against Me my first thought was 'Wow, with a track like this, Britney's new album is going to be amazing'. And now, having heard another track from the album, I know it's not just going to be an amazing album, but that it is going to take amazing to a whole new level.

Till The World Ends follows in the same dancey, dirty electro vibe as its predecessor, but is quite possible even better. Soaring epic synths lead into a chorus that is ready-made to be shouted across crowded, heaving dancefloors. And that's what this song is all about, dancing. It's the very epitome of a club banger. All the right ingredients are there - classic, sexy Britney vocals... a hyper-catchy chorus... handclaps... DJ references... a sick bassline...

It really is as if all our Christmasses came at once - the perfect present for Britney fans eager for more. My favourite bit comes three minutes into the track when everything goes all crazy and the synths sound like they've been put through an atomic reactor. SO epic. SO awesome. SO amazingly cool.

This is Britney for a new generation, a new era. She's well and truly back, and if the rest of the album is even half as good as Till The World Ends, it could easily be the best pop album of the year.

Britney Spears - Till The World Ends by Varnfiesh