Shuffle

EOIN BUTLER'Sguide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams

MADNESS
Dust Devil Lucky Seven Records****
"Madness release concept album to universal acclaim!" As unlikely headlines go, that one is up there with "Irish triumph in Hollywood as Outspan collects Oscar". But on the impressive lead single from their acclaimed Liberty of Norton Folgatealbum, Suggs & co demonstrate that they can still whip up a storm.

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) Island ****

"This is a gift and I comes at a price/Who is the lamb and who is the knife?" Florence Welch's debut album (Lungs) is due out July 6th. She arrives in Ireland a week later to perform at Oxegen.

JOHN SPILLANE
Passage West EMI **
Here's one from the possibly- laying-it-on-too-thick file. This brand new song by Spillane can be found on his So Far So Good, Like compilation. Which would, presumably, be the follow up to his Well Sure Exactly, Says You, And Sure Isn't There a Grand Stretch in the Evenings album.

BLACK EYED PEAS
Boom Boom PowInterscope **

It may well be that Black Eyed Peas' tuneless, chorus-less, hook-less new single represents a musical innovation on a par with the abstract paintings of Wassily Kandinsky – and that this write is just too thick to appreciate it. Equally, it's possible that Boom Boom Powreally does consist of nothing more than a man shouting "boom boom boom" into an auto-tune machine for three minutes. The song has already been a No 1 hit in the US, so go figure.

LADY GAGA
Lovegame Interscope **

Lady GaGa's label bosses have reportedly banned releasing Lovegameas a single on the grounds that the video is too raunchy. Having viewed the offending promo on YouTube, it's not clear what they object to. The gyrating hips? The sexually suggestive lyrics? The oversized cotton bud she brandishes like a giant light sabre? Have these suits even seen a pop video in the last 20 years!?