New releases round-up - 4th July 2011

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

It feels like this track has been banging around for ages, but it never gets old - one of the best track's from Minaj's inspired Pink Friday, it's great to see this track getting the mass radio airplay it deserves. Frothy, fizzy milkshake pop with a good dash of Nicki's trademark raps, we also have this track to thank for Selena Gomez's immeasurably cute cover version of it.

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Loick Essien - How We Roll

As I write this, How We Roll has already surged up into the UK Top 10 - and it sounds like a Top 10 record for sure. There's something about its transatlantic gloss that suggest some big US star crossing over into the UK market, but Essien in fact hails from these shores; previously collaborating with artists like Chipmink and N-Dubz. His debut album Identity is released later this year.

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Guillemots - I Must Be A Lover

A strong return for the Guillemots after Fyfe Dangerfield's advert soundtracking solo record. Channeling that rich, baroque quality the band have always done so well, when it comes to a lush, involving tale of devotion, you don't get much better than this.

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Adele - Set Fire To The Rain

What could be more a summation of heartbreak and tears in your eyes at a ruined relationship than Adele's Someone Like You? Perhaps her new single Set Fire To The Rain. If anything, he latest track is even more packed with anguish and raw emotion. More upbeat, more passionate, and packing a catchy little piano hook; this has always been one of my favourites from her mind-bogglingly successful 21 album.

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The Guilllemots set to play St. Pancras Station

We hear a lot about Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Isle of Wight... those behemoths of the festival world. But in the heart of London, something exciting is happening. In a station. Kicking off on the 15th June and running until the 29th July, St Pancras International station plays host to the Station Sessions Festival.

The Guillemots launch the festival at 6.30pm on the 15th June with tracks from their new album Walk The River, including the brilliant single I Must Be A Lover, which we reviewed last week.

If you think about it, a station is a properly amazing place for a festival - 1 million people travel through St Pancras every week - and we're sure these commuters will enjoy a little musical refreshment to brighten up their day.

Oh, and did we mention that the station contains Europe's longest champagne bar? Crack out the bubbly!

Guillemots - I Must Be A Lover

After Fyfe Dangerfield's massive solo success with Fly Yellow Moon, it's fair to say there's a certain degree of pressure on the Guillemots to come back with something really spectacular.

New single I Must Be A Lover is a move away from the hectic electro sounds of the band's previous album, and a return to the cheery, boroque pop of early records like Trains To Brazil as well as working in many of the elements that made Dangerfield's solo LP such a gem.

Yes, there are still synths here, but now only the lightest, most delicate of touches. There's a real percussive feel to the track too, aided by the strummed guitar and clack-clack, almost ramshackle beat. I Must Be A Lover feels distinctly handbuilt, like a piece of real artistry.

Dangerfield's Fly Yellow Moon gave him the freedom to fully unlock that magical, enchanting sound the Guillemots had always been on the edge of. And now, returning to the band and bringing his considerable songwriting and vocal talents with him, there is a sense that the group is now far more comfortable in its own skin.

In the video we see flickering, mystical light tracing its way over the band members, conjuring up that ethereal feel the Guillemots have always had such a way with. But equally, I Must Be A Lover sees them now at their most solid and confident to date.

I Must Be A Lover is released on the 3rd July.