Collapsing Cities are not a very good band overall, but they have one song which could be absolutely huge, and this is it. Seriously has to be the catchiest indie boy song of 2008, and it's seriously brilliant! It needs to be released ASAP to be a big summer hit. It's a classic-in-waiting. There's something so joyous about it, I always find myself smiling while I listen, and I have it stuck in my head for the rest of the day. As a follow-up they could release their one other good song Fear Of Opening My Mouth, which goes "if I'm still a telemarketer next year, I think I'll kill myself". I think a lot of people could relate to that one. Collapsing Cities have huge potential, but their market is so overpopulated at the moment that it's never a safe bet to say they'll be successful. All I can say is they should be, and easily could be.

Here's the brand new single by Swedish pop royalty, Alcazar. It's the second they'll release as their new line-up, and I believe it is soon to be followed by an album, which is rather exciting. As far as I know they're not working with Alexander Bard anymore, but they have still continued to make great pop in the Alcazar style. This one's got a brilliantly catchy chorus and a general sassyness about it which makes it really fun to sing and dance along to. The ah-ohuh-ohuhs will definitely get stuck in your head. This could become a big favourite with Swedish pop lovers.

The Black Ghosts may be the latest indie sensation, but don't hold it against them: one of their songs is utterly amazing! I downloaded this in late 2007, and was instantly obsessed, listening to it again and again, but since it had been released and seemingly not gotten anywhere, I forgot about them and just made a mental note to post the song up here when I got the chance. No rush. But perhaps I should have posted it up when I first heard it after all, because now that the group are about to release a hotly-tipped album, featuring Damon Albarn on the lead single, I reckon it's a pretty safe prediction that this track will soon be re-released, and could potentially be one of the biggest hits of 2008. The vocals make it a little bit laddish, but the catchiness and danceability, plus links to revered electricians Justice, means everyone from indie geeks to dancefloor divas will, in all probability, be loving this song this summer. Get learning the words and inventing your dance routine!

How rubbish it must be for Rhianna, when she tells someone she's "the singer, Rhianna" only to get a laugh in return, and some advice to improve on her Jamaican accent if she wants to get away with that one. She may not have had anything to quite the level of Umbrella, SOS or Don't Stop The Music, but I definitely preferred Rhianna's first two singles to Rihanna's. You might remember her singles Oh Baby (which got to no.18) and Word Love from her first album in 2002, when she was just 16, and she released a follow-up CD in 2006. Unfortuantely she now is apparently working in a sandwich shop in Northumberland! Oh Baby was on a Levis advert, if I remember correctly, and also used to appear regularly on Fresh Hits on MTV Hits, a TV show which used to be the highlight of my week, as they used to play all the videos no-one else would play, such as Amy Studt, Sita and Benefit. I suppose they must not have played Word Love, as I actually didn't hear it until I found it on an mp3 blog a few years ago (it just missed the top 40), but I think it's just as good as Oh Baby, so I've posted both as a general induction to Rhianna.

She may be a typical Essex girl, but Pixie Lott is working with a very impressive selection of producers on her forthcoming debut album - Babyface, Cutfather & Joe, Soulshock, Kara Diogardi, Rodney Jerkins, The Underdogs, K-Gee and Rick Nowels. With that many big names, she's sure to come up with at least one or two great songs, and already her MySpace has some pretty good offerings. My favourite is The Fall, which is kinda like Natasha Bedingfield meets Vanessa Hudgens, cute and jolly r'n'b-pop. There's obviously a lot of money behind Pixie's career, so she's definitely one to keep an eye on, with potential to make some great pop.

I only discovered Stacy yesterday, but it seems she's been going for quite a while. 23-year-old Stacy survived a life-threatening blood disease in her teenage years, and now does a lot of charity work for people with similar conditions. She is from New York but now lives in California, released an album Apples and Oranges in 2007, and soon will have a new acoustic album. Matter of Time is the first track on Apples and Oranges, and undoubtedly her best song of the ones I've heard. Her style is like a poppier Imogen Heap or Tegan and Sara, quite similar to Jem actually, but I like Matter of Time better than any of Jem's songs, personally. It's cute and catchy in its quirkiness, enjoyably hooky without being a huge sing-along song. I fully expect Stacy to appear on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack next season, if she hasn't been on there already.

Remember EliZe, the top dance-pop lady of the Netherlands, she of Automatic, Shake and Into Your System? Well, she's back! Lovesick has been out a few weeks in Holland, and is so far at no.17 in the top 100, already much higher than her disappointing last single Itsy Bitsy Spider, which only reached 54. It's probably the most properly dance music single that she's released so far, but it is still catchy and enjoyable. If you liked her past hits (or September, Velvet, Da Buzz etc.) you'll certainly like this - whether you'll ever like it as much is debatable, but that's no big criticism, because Automatic is one of the absolute best dance-pop singles of all time.

No-one could claim that Germany is at the forefront of poptasticness, but what they can be complimented on is their persistant efforts, especially in the area of r'n'b-pop. One example of a German act having an amazing breakthrough of aceness was Monrose's excellent 2007 single, Hot Summer, one of the best r'n'b-pop songs of last year. Now they're back with a new single called Strike The Match, which is co-written by Ryan Tedder and up-and-coming French popstar SoShy. It's a bit more on the r'n'b side, but the group could still be called a mix of Sugababes and Pussycat Dolls. The music they're releasing is, in my opinion at least, better than the rubbish American girlgroups seem to produce (admittedly Killa by Cherish was good), and they wouldn't be out of place in the UK pop charts either. It'll be interesting to see if they ever make it over here - I do think they stand a chance. Their 3rd album in Germany, I Am, will be out in July.

I hate exams. Because of mine it has taken me 8 days to post this, the most wonderfully ace of all the wonderfully ace new songs on the UK release of This Is Alphabeat. I listen to this CD and I just can't believe it's real - this band are so amazing! I know not everyone gets it, but it doesn't matter one jot to me: they are the most brilliant and glorious band around. Just from looking at them, in all their colourful Danish cuteness, it is clear. This song I first heard when I first saw them live at the start of this year (after a year of desperate waiting to do so - I even considered travelling to Denmark especially!) and I was obsessed with the song and Alphabeat from that moment on. It's just brilliant live. The new version of the album emphasises the band's 80s influence more than the original, and this is probably the most clearly 80s track. It's just so much fun, and its cheeky lyrics give it a little edge to show that pop music is definitely not just for children!