This is one of the songs from Hello Saferide's new album, and it's utterly beautiful and fantastic, as we've come to expect from Annika and co. She has to be my favourite lyricist in the world, and English isn't even her first language. Her personality comes through in her songs and turns them from typical sweet indie-pop into something really unique and special. The title isn't in the song, but when you listen to it you'll understand. Annika is undoubtedly one of the most talented singer/songwriters around at the moment, and I'm very excited about hearing the rest of the new album, which was released last Wednesday in Sweden. I had to use this picture, because it was taken at the gig where I first saw Hello Saferide play!

I discovered this adorable indie-pop song on the soundtrack of Angus, Thongs & Perfect Not At All Full-Frontal Snogging, but I couldn't find any info anywhere about the artist, who was credited as Lady Lenka. However, I was looking around on Imeem yesterday and found a page which is run by Lenka herself. She turns out to be Australian, an ex-member of Decoder Ring (the band who soundtracked the annoying Aussie film Somersault), and her album is out on 23rd September, i.e. today! You can listen to clips and some full songs on Imeem, and there are some really good ones. Don't Let Me Fall is lovely. If you like Marit Larsen then you should give Lenka a chance, as they're similarly sugary-sweet.

I'm so pleased: The Killers are poptastic again! Human, produced by Stuart Price, is probably the poppiest song they've ever done, with a great chorus and an obvious Pet Shop Boys influence. This could be a track on the PSBs' excellent last album, in fact. I loved where The Killers were going with their first album, but was totally bored by their follow-up. Now they're definitely back on track, and it's really exciting because since their first album they have become a very important and influential act, so a track like this will help very much in the fight against indie dullness. I look forward to hearing many more indie bands dropping their guitars in favour of dance beats and catchy choruses.

They may be tart-tastic, but I have to say I'm quite impressed by The Dolly Rockers. Although we'd rather not admit that most British girls overdo the fake tan and think mini-skirts are classy, it's the truth, and The Dolly Rockers represent that without shame. They got through a round or two on X Factor last year, but ultimately they were too rough and ready for prime-time ITV. They're bursting with genuine charisma, and remind us of some girl-group greats like the Spice Girls, Pay TV, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten in the Katona days, and Shampoo... but also Vanilla. If non-Brits want to know what this country is like, don't watch Brideshead Revisited (read the book, it doesn't have Matthew Goode in it), listen to The Dolly Rockers!

Continuing in the theme of disco-fabulosity, here is Darren's version of the Madonna classic! It's well-known that Mr Hayes is a big fan of Queen Madge, with references to her in his songs ("acting like a mover-shaker dancing to Madonna" is the best line of Chained To You by Savage Garden) and the bootleg of Crush with Holiday, but I don't think I've actually heard him cover one of her songs before. I'm not sure if there's any particular purpose to this, but that's certainly not a complaint. Any reason for Darren to get his disco-boots on is reason enough for me.

Well, Muxtape is still absent after at least 2 weeks, so I'm moving on to pastures new i.e. Imeem. Like before, you just left click on the song title on each of my posts to listen to the songs. One Touch is a song which I've been meaning to post for ages, and it's one of my most listened to in recent months. It fits with the recent nostalgia for Italodisco, and in fact sounds like the perfect new single for Sophie Ellis-Bextor (who Doe is a fan of). Doe Deere, who loves Britney as much as Tears For Fears, is a really fun and exciting popstar, whose album I can't wait to buy. Her real name is Xenia, she is Russian but lives in New York, and has a big following for her "blogazine", where she talks about her life and gives advice to girls on fashion and many other things. It's clear from her MySpace that she is aiming for poptasticness, and achieving it very well with many fantastic glittery tunes. With acts like Doe Deere and Lady GaGa, New York is becoming a real beacon of aceness at the moment, seriously challenging Scandinavia for the female electro-pop crown.