David Bowie - Blackstar ★ ★ ★ ★
From Space Oddity and Starman, through to Hallo Spaceboy, few pop singers have mined subject matter extra-terrestrial as memorably, or as profitably, as David Bowie. This sprawling, 10-minute epic, a taster from his forthcoming 28th studio album, was apparently inspired by KIC 8462852, a distant star that, astronomers report, has been behaving erratically of late. Not keeping-its-own-urine -in-a-fridge-to-prevent-a-wizard-from-stealing-it erratic (as Bowie allegedly did in the 1970s), but erratic nonetheless.
Deap Vally - Royal Jelly ★ ★ ★
"If you wanna be queen bee," sneer Deap Vally, sounding like an all-female White Stripes. "Then you better make honey." Strictly speaking, queen bees don't make honey. And that isn't how you spell "deep" or "valley" either. But when a band's ire is this righteous, who am I to quibble? Incidentally, the video stars Georgia Jagger and the track, taken from the LA duo's forthcoming second album, was produced by Nick Zinner.
Lil Durk ft. Dej Loaf - My Beyonce ★ ★ ★ ★
"Shawty's my Beyonce...". Rappers Lil Durk and Dej Loaf out themselves as a couple, on this new single from Durk's forthcoming mixtape 300 Days 300 Nights. For all the pair's swagger, this is a surprisingly old-fashioned declaration of affection for each other. "Durk and Dej," swoons the latter. "I'm even thinking 'bout changing my last name." (Of course, when your last name is Loaf, that's not such a great sacrifice.)
Kylie Minogue ft. Iggy Pop - Christmas Wrapping ★
On this track from her widely panned Christmas collection, Kylie and the leather-skinned godfather of punk team up for a cover of The Waitresses' 1980s festive hit. And no matter how cringe-inducingly godawful you might imagine the results are, I would humbly suggest, the finished track is a little worse than that again.
