albums and tracks

Editor's rating

With its release perfectly coinciding with the start of spring and a dramatic improvement in our weather and mindset, 'Don't Upset The Rhythm' is the current front-runner for Official Pop Soundtrack to 2009. It's surely no coincidence that Estelle's 'American Boy', similar in both tempo and swagger, was realised one year ago today.

Charismatic singer Shingai Shoniwa leads the charge on a gloriously upbeat party tune, her stylish delivery suiting the disco-cum-punk-pop soundtrack orchestrated by fellow Londoners Dan Smith and Jamie Morrison.

The essential pop ingredients are all here in abundance. We're treated to a lyrical drum-roll ("Kick, snare, hat, ride") that paves the way for a bridge so melodramatic it could have been lifted from a Bond theme. One hit of the bounding chorus, "Go baby! Go Baby! Go!", and you'll be hooked.

Even the ludicrously cramped verses do nothing to dampen the mood, an impressive feat considering the balsa wood-flimsy lines "Can't get home?/You can use my dog and bone".

'Don't Upset The Rhythm' could easily be a contender for No.1 in coming weeks and bodes well for the trio's forthcoming album, Wild Young Hearts.