The Optimist finds New Young Pony Club at their poppiest with this melodic sexy record. The album is self produced and more importantly self funded and self released, it is the sound of a band taking full control of their present and future. Opening with incredibly catchy Lost A Girl, it provides an excellent anticipation for the rest of the album. It combines cutting disco vibes, dance ethic with pop ethic, all set in a dark, mysterious tone. Stone and The Architect Of Love are stripped back, post punk indebted break-up records that heighten to an explosion of synth. NYPC are definitely on top.

Released 15th March.

By Sophie Stratford

Mumford & Sons have begun this decade much as they ended the last, with word-of-mouth recommendations and a fearsome live reputation helping them to become one of the most significant British success stories in recent years.  The band has already received enormous radio airplay, even including a place on the Radio 1 A-list.

Single The Cave is a pounding tale of hope and defiance, starting with gently picked acoustic and this gradually escalates into a huge wall of sound with a myriad of strange and traditional instruments. 2010 is definitely shaping up to be Mumford & Sons year.

Released 1^st March 2010.

By Sophie Stratford

Golden pop phenomenon Mika is releasing his brand new single Blame It On The Girls, taken from his acclaimed seconds album The Boy who Knew Too Much. The single is a massively happy slice of timeless, sing along pop bliss incorporating hand claps and floor stopping piano. Already a live hit Blame It On The Girls raised the roof at this year’s iTunes Festival. The single comes with fantastic mixes from mighty Wolfgang, Paul Woolford, Anorak & Starmith and an old-school video spectacular directed by acclaimed director Nez (who has shot promos for Lily Allen and Kid Cudi). This single is just another great track under Mika’s belt.

Released 15^th February 2010.

By Sophie Stratford

Adam Young is the mastermind behind the music collaboration that is Owl City. Single ‘Fireflies’ has hit the No. 1 spot on the U.S Billboard charts in November 2009 and the U.S iTunes chart. It has also already sold nearly two million copies and is the fastest selling electronic track of all-time. Young has fashioned an elegant and seemingly effortless connection between fashionably arty, retro-nouveau electro pop and the kind of fresh-faced, sweetly melancholic hit factory songwriting.

Owl City pop has a purity of purpose – an innocence that breathes fresh air in to the electro-pop revival. It sounds like a sparkling wintry day in a place full of nature, rather than electronic music’s usual urban nocturnal vibe.  Fireflies makes a world of adventure to combat quietness and the boredom around you.

Released 22^nd February 2010.

By Sophie Stratford

Patrick Wolf concludes a triumphant year with the release of the third single to be taken from his critically acclaimed album, The Bachelor – the powerful and beautiful, Damaris. The single is semi-autobiographical and centred on the loss of love, it was inspired by a tale discovered whilst Patrick went to seek out his English roots after a period of heartbreak and the ending of a relationship that was much documented in the song The Magic Position.

Tracing his father’s roots, in East Sussex, Patrick stumbled across a small wooden cross engraved with the name Damaris among the gravestones of his ancestors. From that moment he began researching who Damaris might be and it came about that the wooden cross told a larger tale then anyone could have imagined. Damaris was a gypsy or heathen, unwelcomed by the Catholic Church at the time. Lewis, the son of a priest, fell in love with Damaris and the two got caught up in whirlwind of forbidden love. The star-crossed lovers were forbidden to marry and Damaris is said to have died of a broken-heart (suicide).

Patrick related to these sentiments at the time and so narrated a song from Lewis’ tragically frustrated perspective. It is important to consider the story behind the song when you are listening as it deepens the meaning. As the track is instrumentally overpowering, the usual fanfare vocals would not be an option and so the track starts with soft, smoky vocals instead. The special, unique aspect of Mr Wolfs music is that is well thought out, personal, and intensely moving.

Released 14th December 2009.

By Sophie Stratford