Yasmin - Finish Line

I have to say, Finish Line has somewhat crept up on me. It's only now, on its week of release that its suddenly just hit me, that moment all truly great songs have, where everything suddenly clicks and you realise what an amazing piece of pop mastery you're dealing with.

Yasmin represents one of the brightest stars in UK music this year and what I love most about her is she's doing completely her own thing - and in a market getting increasingly crowded with strong, independent female vocalists - that more than works in her favour. She comes too with an inherent sense of style and credibility, painted for all to see on the cover art of her singles. Model-like in her fragile beauty, there's also a fiery determination behind it all that seems to leap from that exclamation mark daubed in pink paint.

Finish Line's real strength comes in its timeless quality - by incorporating a little bit of this, a little bit of that, it somehow sounds like everything and nothing at once. 80s synths in the chorus, those lush, Massive Attack beats that made On My Own so lovely, the glossy 21st century production - the track as a whole could slip effortlessly into the musical landscape of anywhere in the past three decades. Just when you think the song is going down one avenue, it takes a right turn and shoots off on another tangent, culminating in that immensely uplifting chorus line.

It's here too that you realise what an incredibly talented vocalist Yasmin is. She has one of those voices that never allows the track to become dominant - those vocals remain clear and pure from the very start to, pardon the pun, the Finish Line. Part passionate clubland diva, part airy pop princess, Yasmin's vocals draw the best from both these camps.

As I write this, Finish Line stands in the top 15 on iTunes, testament to the all encompassing appeal the track possesses. So many try and fail to touch base on a wide range of musical scenes in an effort to achieve mass popularity. You can't blame them for want of trying, but it's a damn hard thing to do.

What makes Yasmin and Finish Line so beautifully wonderful is that they do this without even breaking sweat. The cool is effortless, the appeal is pure charm. No pretentiousness or sense of strained egos here, only the sound of definite quality and an assured smash hit.

Finish Line is available to download on iTunes now.

Sugababes - The Best of the Bs / The Complete Bs

Two new Sugababes' albums I hear you cry, where did these spring from? Well, they're not really new albums to be fair, rather an assortment of Sugababes b-sides.

Released on iTunes and Amazon, they actually represent remarkable value for money - enabling you to quickly many of the band's hidden gems, previously squirreled away on long-deleted CD singles (remember those?). 'The Best of the Bs' features just the b-sides, while 'The Complete Bs' features all these plus a vast host of remixes.

In the case of the latter, you're basically getting 100 tracks for £12.99, which is a Pretty Amazing Deal in anyone's book.

Check out the album tracklistings and buy them here: 'The Best of the Bs' / 'The Complete Bs'

On air/On sale - When the public just won’t wait

Picture the scene.  You’re cruising down the road in your car and hear a song you love on the radio.  Maybe it’s a long awaited comeback from one of your favourite artists or maybe it’s a brand new act.  Later that day you sit down at your computer, load up the iTunes store and search for the track, only to find it’s not out for another month.  Instant frustration!

But times are changing - Take pop darling Britney Spears and her brilliant new single Hold It Against Me as a case in point.  The song premiered on January 10th and went on sale in the US the next day.  But in the UK, the single originally wasn’t set to be released until February 20th, a whole five weeks later than the US.  But due to overwhelming public demand, record labels Sony and Universal decided to bring the release date forward and make the single available to download on UK iTunes.

They call this new system On air/On sale, and while sounding like one of those fancy ‘buzzword’ slogans marketing types dream up in offices, it may very well represent the future of music.  In other words - now, if you want Britney’s latest slice of hot, catchy-as-hell dance-pop, you don’t have to wait an age for it (Please do download it by the way, it’s properly amazing).

The system has already been used extensively in America; and as television, school slang and the Iraq war have shown us, where America leads, Britain usually follows.

Interestingly, the whole situation of delayed release dates in the UK has also thrown up the bizarre situation of what I like to call ‘budget versions’.  As there is a huge demand for big new singles, there are companies out there that specialise in quickly pumping out versions of these songs and putting them up on iTunes so that music fans eager to download the real version of the song will often accidently download the ‘budget version’.  This system is essentially a factory of mediocrity, as it were - an endless stream of cheap imitations that are never as good as the real thing, but that continue to thrive because people simply aren’t willing to wait.  They want their new music, and they want it now.

If you’ve ever had the misfortune of downloading one of these budget versions by accident, or just had a listen because you want some cheap laughs, you’ll know these awful ‘cover’ versions are voiced by poor karaoke singers belting the lyric out over backing tracks that sound like they’ve been cooked up in someone’s bedroom on an economy-price keyboard.

Clearly there is an issue with release dates.  While the traditional method of playing songs on the radio for a few weeks to build up demand before they go on sale has its merits, the music industry has shown itself time and time again to be a thing of constant change.

Maybe the moves made by Sony and Universal simply represent the next element of change.  With 99% of the UK singles market now comprised of digital downloads, a system of On air/On sale is looking more and more likely to become a reality.

The Wanted - Made

iTunes are offering a great track from The Wanted’s debut album (which is fantastic by the way) as a free download this week and it is well worth getting your hands on. Those that think they know what the band is all about based on their first two singles will find Made refreshingly different.

Featuring a more guitar based vibe; it showcases the band’s more ‘indie’ side, coming surprisingly close to sounding like a more poppy, glossed-up version of Bloc Party at times, something that can be said for a number of tracks from the album. With husky, delicate vocals and an infectious chorus, it’s tracks like this that help make their debut LP so consistent and a standout as one of the best pop releases of the year.

Download the track from iTunes here.