New releases round-up - 8th May 2011

Alex Metric & Steve Angello feat. Ian Brown - Open Your Eyes

One of the best dance tracks I've heard in years and with a brilliant guest vocals spot from ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown. Immensely uplifting and with a real punch to it, it also comes with a Rocky inspired video where a boxing robot punches off a guy's head.

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The Pierces - Glorious

More psychedelic 70s influenced fare from the pretty American sisters, this time with a religious twist. Glorious makes it three in the row for the duo as they show once again what an ear for melody and soothing harmonies they have.

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Yasmin - Finish Line

Feisty urban attitude and soulful Massive Attack vibes on Yasmin's second single. A strong, passionate follow-up to On My Own; this channels the same kinds of sounds and feelings, but with added epic-ness. A real star in the making.

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Hurts - Better Than Love (Freemasons Pegasus Mix)

Pegasus? What an amazing name for a remix! And while this re-work by the ever-wonderful Freemasons might not have anything to do with mythological animals, it injects Hurts' best single with real dancefloor staying power in this re-release. My favourite bit is the Godly sounding synth instrumental bit half-way through - pure heaven.

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The Pierces - Glorious

With new track Glorious, The Pierces confirm their place as having one of the most brilliant run of singles in recent years. First Love You More, then You'll Be Mine... Glorious makes it a hat-trick. With a chorus of "God bless the world, it's so glorious", the track is suitably uplifting and sisters Allison and Catherine carry the whole thing off with ease.

The duo have a real knack of striking the precise balance between up-tempo toe-tapper and gentle balladic beauty. In the sweeping guitar licks and swelling string sections, we feel as if we are rushing across the plains of America to the girls' homeland. "It got so lonely when you turned away," they sing, but we are only left wondering at how anyone could turn away from a song as lovely and enchanting as this.

The Sun has the exclusive premiere of the track's video and even this seems imbued with this hazy sense of forgotten years that The Pierces have come to capture in their sound. There's pretty retro dresses, filmic sepia-toned touches and shots of packed music halls. In this track comes an intense rush of emotion, as with their previous singles, The Pierces have this mastery of hitting exactly the right spot to send shivers of delight and reverence down you. It's in the beautiful harmonies, it's in the twinkling guitar and percussion. Truly Glorious.

Glorious is released on the 23rd May with their album You & I following a week later.