MARY J BLIGE
Therapy

(4/5)

Capitol Records  

The Queen of hip-hop soul has had her struggles with drugs, alcohol and depression. So it’s hard not to read this opening track from her new album,

The London Sessions,

as a riposte to Amy Winehouse’s

Rehab.

Co-written with Sam Smith,

Therapy

has a similar retro sound to the late singer’s biggest hit, but a diametrically opposed message. “Why would I spend the rest of my days unhappy,” sings Blige, “when I can get therapy?

BAND AID 30
Do They Know It's Christmas? (2/5)
EMI  
The stars-arriving-outside- the-studio footage is key. I mean, how else would we understand, later on, how everyone is inside the studio? We'd be baffled.

ONE DIRECTION
Act My Age (2/5)
Syco  
An extraordinary Rolling Stone review of their latest album compared One Direction, variously, to The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Who and – yes, really! – Led Zeppelin. Which, in turn, caused a swathe of aging male rock critics to turn (only slightly prematurely) in their graves. In fairness, both sides have a point. One the one hand, those cited influences are detectable, but in homeopathic doses. This track from the deluxe edition is a case in point. The first 20 seconds could literally be a Dropkick Murphys song. But the rest is formulaic teen pop tosh. It's like when a fast-food franchise announces that it has a special new Mexican menu – it's all very exciting, there are flags everywhere, and cashiers are wearing sombreros. But when you order, it's the same bloody burger and fries, just with salsa instead of ketchup. Olé!

THE CORONAS
The Long Way (2/5)
Universal  
The only song from The Coronas' major-label debut album that doesn't sound like it was recorded for a beer commercial is the title track. The Long Way is a piano ballad that starts out sounding like late-period Beatles Paul McCartney, but ends up, alas, an over-produced mush.