M.I.A. - Bad Girls

Halfway between the raw electro of XXXO and the low-slung Eastern melodiousness of Paper Planes, M.I.A's new single Bad Girls comes on as a powerful summation of everything she stands for as an artist.

With the kind of credibility and critical affectation for her first two albums most artists can only dream of, M.I.A. is in many ways the true outre pop princess, and with Paper Planes, Slumdog Millionaire and everything else that came with Kala's acceptance into the public consciousness, M.I.A. became the kind of singer who could deliver profoundly 'big' records like Bad Girls at the bat of her lashes.

And now, singlehandly guest starring on the new Madonna track while serving up a lead single of her own, the spotlight has never been more firmly placed straight on her. And what a track to step into the limelight with. A brawling, pulsing monster of a track, Bad Girls throws everything into the mixer. The video rocks too.

With its 'chain hits my chest when I'm banging on the dash' refrain tripping off MIA's tongue, the track is gripped in a perpetual sensation of energy and movement. For every swerve of those cars, for every screech of burning rubber, the track catapults to higher heights - a physical force of momentum slung outward at blockbuster speed.

[Official Video] Coldplay - Charlie Brown

Raving in a club - perhaps not the first place you'd imagine to find Coldplay. But it's ok, they've got their instruments with them, so all the rock aficionados can breathe easy. But to put it simply, Mylo Xyloto was in many ways Coldplay's pop effort, a full-on embracing of those clean, glacial sounds and immense hooks they've had a knack for turning out over all these years.

And of those tracks, none felt more triumphant or euphoric than Charlie Brown, and it's stunning new video only backs that up. Looking for all the world like a trailer cut from highlights of a gritty Misfits/Kidulthood urban drama, it seems suffused with the way Coldplay's songs are inextricably wound up in the fabric of contemporary culture and society.

When you're the biggest band in the world, you take up the mantle of being a sort of voice-and-eyes of the nation, and Charlie Brown is all that, distilled down to four minutes of soaring, neon-drenched brilliance.

[Official Video] Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin

If anyone knows about making a bloody good go of a comeback, it's Madonna. She's done it enough times already. But it has to be said, her stock has been at something of an all time low since the tepid Hard Candy and its faux pretentions at urban credibility.

Thank God then for Give Me All Your Luvin, a return to unabashed pure-pop Madonna - it's like the best bits of her 80s glory days given a 21st century overall. With cheerleader chants - always a plus. And while it might not be perfect - Madge's vocals aren't the strongest, and the Nicki Minaj rap feels oddly shoe-horned in - the frankly brilliant video does more than enough to paper over these flaws.

Like Material Girl gone bonkers, the video picks Madonna up and puts her down in a papery studio of comprised America, and yes... more cheerleaders. Best of all, Nicki and M.I.A. don those cheerleader outfits themselves and lead the pack - indeed, it's worth watching for that alone. It's surreal, flippant fun that could only come from the woman who has already conquered the  world a hundred times over - now free to pursue whatever damn direction she wants.

Dripping in all the trappings of Americana we've come to expect from Madge, Give Me All Your Luvin feels like a genuine return to both form, and fun. She looks good in the video, and most importantly, looks like she's having a good time. And on this alone, I'm holding out great hopes for the album.

[Official Video] Rebecca Ferguson - Too Good To Lose

For a gorgeous song, a gorgeous accompanying video - Rebecca Ferguson's new one Too Good To Lose was always the standout track for me from her album, and after watching the video, I love it even more. With Rebecca walking through the hustle and bustle of sunny city streets, it's got a bit of a Unfinished Sympathy feel going on, and it goes without saying she looks absolutely stunning.

It's fair to say Rebecca, the fully-fledged pop-star, has arrived. Top marks!

Too Good To Lose is released on the 4th March.

Alyssa Reid - Alone Again

There’s a tendency to be sceptical about any young up and coming talent, especially when their debut single plots a course straight for the Number One spot. Even more so when they’re only 18. I mean, why couldn’t we have had a Number One when we were that age? (it might have clashed badly with our A Level exams, to be fair).

But for Alyssa Reid, it all seems so easy. On the surface, she all comes across as very much the bog standard pretty-girl-plays-piano, tapping neatly into that whole New Girl kooky aesthetic. But first impressions aside, the Canadian’s single – Alone Again – is half-decent, an urban accented slice of pop so in tune with the generic centre of what’s popular right now you can almost imagine the nation’s radio stations queuing up to offer their dues before it was even finished. It’s all a bit Read All About It all over again, but with added Hollywood factor.

What’s that Alyssa? Twilight calling – they want you on their next movie soundtrack.

Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe

It’s fair to say my feelings are divided about Nicki’s Stupid Hoe. On one hand, it’s nice to see her ‘going in hard’ again, returning to the brawling intensity that made Roman’s Revenge a real standout. But equally, Stupid Hoe feels almost too much. It’s a pushing of cheap titillation and lewdness, seemingly just for the sake of it.

As much as Nicki might want to be a controversial artist, at the level she has built herself up to, she also exists profoundly as a popstar – and Stupid Hoe verges over the line into alienating. The video is a whole kettle of fish in its own right, a flickering, snapping explosion of colour and editing that flashes Nicki in a variety of provocative guises missle-style into your eyes. And as much as we love Nicki for her bombast, in this instance, like the song itself, it all feels like one step too far in the wrong direction.

Rob Thom – Just The Kind of Thing

Pop sensibilities oft seem left out in contemporary folk – or at the very least offered only as a paltry appetiser to the main body of the song itself. But not the case with Rob Thom, whose forthcoming debut album Trapped & Free looks set to be characterised by tracks that strike that keen balance between clean cut hooks and traditional folk verve. With shades of Bob Dylan working their way through in Thom’s effervescent tones, his new single Just The Kind of Thing moves along at a good ol' pace, folk resolutely at the more uplifting end of the spectrum – something painted all the clearer in the wonderfully cute DIY feel of the track’s accompanying video.

Just The Kind of Thing is released on the 27^th February.