Snow Patrol - Called Out In The Dark

Of late, Snow Patrol have been rather hard to pigeon-hole. It used to be so easy; those big sweeping rock ballads Run and Chasing Cars, those perenial favourites of any self-respecting radio station in the land - that was what Snow Patrol were about.

They'd soundtrack every 'emotional' moment of reality TV, they were the 'rock' band that it was ok for slick city profesionals and middle class Mums to love.

But new single Called Out In The Dark couldn't be further from that - and it all began with 2009's Just Say Yes. Like so many before them, Snow Patrol took that tried and tested route of 'going electronic', shoving a few synths on their latest single and seeing what happened.

What came out the other end was an exceptionally good track, a chilly, glacial bit of synth-pop that saw the band rejuvenated, interesting again, yet still possessing that 'Snow Patrol sound' - namely Gary Lightbody's resonant tones.

Called Out In The Dark is something of a mixed creation - the verses are on very shaky foundations, feeling way too slow, laboured in their plodding bassline. Every part of them seems designed only to get you to the chorus. But oh what a chorus it is...

The chorus is everything to Called Out In The Dark, literally everything. Without it, this song would be nothing, But with it, the track transforms into something magical, enchanting, truly beautiful. Like something from Depeche Mode/Erasure's radiant 80s heyday, Called Out In The Dark suddenly bursts into a full on pop moment, the kind of arms aloft on a glittered dancefloor instant that marks the sign of a truly brilliant chorus.

Even better, the accompanying video throws in some Tron style dancers, bathed in neon light, twisting and twirling around a glossy actor substitute for Lightbody himself. It's a simple narrative, a basic idea, but it's done with just the right amount of comic intention to keep you interested - oh, and it does wonders to perk up those badly lagging verses.

Following on from Just Say Yes, this new, synth-led Snow Patrol makes for a considerable fighting force. Not every band makes the transition from staid commercial rock favourites to pop perfectionism, but Snow Patrol are sure making a good go of it. More like this on the new album please!

Called Out In The Dark is released on the 5th September.

Metronomy - The English Riviera

Metronomy's The English Riviera seems to be swiftly becoming one of those 'buzz' albums that everyone is talking about as newspapers and blogs around the country sing its praises. But in this instance, that praise is entirely justified.

Take single The Look for example, with its New Order-esque basslines. It's full of trippy, retro synthesizer riffs that could be straight out of Blade Runner soundtrack. Meanwhile, Corinne is like early Depeche Mode or OMD - a Just Can't Get Enough for the 21st century. There's even some funky Spandau Ballet guitar in there too. From start to end this album reads like a kind of 80s who's who compendium of influences; the trademark elements of so many bands melded into a sound that is carefree, joyous and almost childlike.

The real skill of Metronomy though comes in the fact that throughout all these touchstones of influence, it is always the band's own sound that remains most prevalent. Every song comes under their own distinct stamp. Within that individual stamp comes a tranquility, a funky vibe conjured up from rubbery basslines like those on laid-back We Broke Free. As the track slowly slides along, flowing and wave-like, guitar is worked in subtly - becoming part of the track instead of distracting from it.

The overall tropical summer feel that surrounds the whole album is at its strongest on Everything Goes My Way, with added female vocals mixing things up a bit. She Wants has more of the feel of a Duran Duran album track - a rustling, clicky beat driving a sense of low menace while guitar lines stab away.

Standing opposed to this, Trouble has the delicate kind of guitar work that made the Foals' Total Life Forever such a critical darling. Working in jazzy influences too the sunshine is almost palpable here. Indeed, the Foals album is the closest comparison to The English Riviera - there's a similar vision in the kind of world the band is attempting to create, and with so many different layers of sound going on here, it's a vastly involving world.

It's on tracks like The Bay where the album achieves what it sets out to do best - funky basslines and quirky lyrics reaching a crescendo in high powered choruses that fade away to twitching, minimal verses. There's a restless energy here, that feeling of when you've had a couple of beers and have that irresistible urge to dance. And it's important not to forget that on many levels this is fundamentally a dance album. Maybe not in the traditional sense of what that entials, but the music is most definitely danceable - and seeing it in that aspect gives it a whole extra dimension.

Loving Arm is full of Doctor Who-esque swirling synthesizers that sound so retro they're practically prehistoric - the track is full of primeval charm, as if it's some kind of fossil dug up on the shores of a windswept beach. Here, as with so much of the album, the band strikes the perfect equilibrium between indie, pop and dance. That sense of menace returns, but it's a menace that goes hand in hand with a bewitching beauty. It's like the old fairy tales, the danger that you can't help but fall for.

Joe Mount's vocals seem at complete ease throughout the album; he feels comfortable in his own skin, utterly confident in the message and sound he wants to convey. That's what The English Riviera is all about, a fantasy land existing exactly to his specifications; a fantasy land that for a while, we are invited into too.

The English Riviera is out to download now.

The Sound Of Arrows - Nova

Fans of the very best in synth-pop delight - The Sound of Arrows deliver skyrocketing synths on a suitably interstellar scale in brilliant new single Nova. Remixing the likes of Lady Gaga and Alphabeat, the Swedish duo have carved out quite a name for themselves and with tracks as commanding and attention-grabbing as Nova, it's hard not to stop and take heed.

If the likes of Delphic whetted your appetite for immaculately produced slipstreams of electronic magic, then The Sound of Arrows provide the perfect fix. Combining anthemic keyboard hooks that synth-pop legends Erasure and Pet Shop Boys would be proud of with thundering club basslines, Nova is that moment of pure bliss and unadultered joy in the heart of a crowded dancefloor. Achingly beautiful yet enfused with what sounds like the power of a hundred nuclear reactors, the chorus is a tale of longing; a yearning for 'something better'. And have I mentioned that two-some's singer is called Stefan Storm? Quite possibly one of the coolest names in pop, and also somehow brilliantly fitting to the images of lightning-split skies Nova's towering crescendo of synths conjures up.

Breathtaking, exhilarating; if ever a song could capture pure electricity, then Nova would be it.

Nova is released 25th April.