And When The Clouds Part Open

Charli XCX is my kind of popstar.

With her passion for nineties nostalgia, loud outfits and slightly leftfield pop output, we were destined to get along well. Thankfully, after a string of excellent EPs/mixtapes, her debut album 'True Romance' lands next month.

We've already heard quite a few of the tracks that made the album, but today she's premiered a new one called 'What I Like'. After a pacy opening that suggests Charli's 'gone Guetta', the song settles into a nice mid-tempo ode to being comfortable in a relationship, kind of like an electro-swathed cousin of Lily Allen's 'Who'd Have Known'.

The track is produced by J£ZUS MILLION, who was also behind Charli's excellent 'Cloud Aura' with Brooke Candy.

Are You Maybe Here To Help Me Hurt Myself?

Baths' 2010 album 'Cerulean' was a great record that I was quite late in coming across.

I was never especially fond of the so-called 'chillwave' trend that emerged around that time but there's something hypnotic about Will Wiesenfeld's ambient soundscapes that drew me in.

His 2011 release Pop Music/False B-Sides kind of passed me by but I am definitely going to investigate further, having in it now that I've heard his latest track 'Miasma Sky' from forthcoming release 'Obsidian'.

The song's pop sheen belies the underlying murk that becomes evident as you listen to the lyrics. In his own words, "Miasma Sky balances being “swallowed alive by the sky” with a gorgeous piano groove and levitative croon that could detonate a disco club night."

I'm Latching On To You

Sam Smith first came to my attention as the vocalist on Disclosure's excellent breakthrough single 'Latch'. His soulful timbre initially reminded of Sam Sparro (remember him?) but I wasn't able to find too much information about him.

A solo track 'Lay Me Down', co-produced by Disclosure, surfaced in January but, lovely as it might be, it's not really my cup of tea. More interesting though is his new collaboration with Naught Boy on 'La La La'.

Built around an infectious sample that I'm guessing was lifted from a Bollywood soundtrack, the track makes great use of Smith's extensive register and, given Naughty Boy's recent success with Emeli Sandé, it has the potential to do very well.

More of this, please.