Psy ft. CL - Daddy ★ ★ ★
Just when it appeared his 15 minutes were up, PSY pulls us back in with what is (even by his own standards) a truly unhinged music video. According to K-pop fansites, the rappers' lyrics are full of all sorts of smutty innuendo that is only intelligible if you're fluent in both English and Korean. But fear not, because there's still more than enough overt smut to satisfy even the most ardent perverts. Think Dirty Dancing meets Windowlicker.
MIA - Borders ★ ★
"Borders?" muses MIA, sounding more like a puffed-up caricature of a right-on pop star than ever. "Politics? What's up with that?" As a former migrant herself, the rapper is better placed than most to weigh in on the current refugee crisis. This video mobilises a cast of hundreds to recreate the present chaos at Calais-Fréthun. But much like Bono, when he's singing about Derry (or Bosnia, or 9/11), it's not entirely clear whether she's empathising with, or merely exploiting, the victims of tragedy.
Coldplay ft. Beyoncé - Hymn for the Weekend ★★
The second track released from Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams album is called Hymn For The Weekend and it's easily as exciting as going to mass. According to an interview Chris Martin gave the Wall Street Journal, the chorus originally went "Drinks on me / Drinks on me..." But the band decided that was too edgy for their tastes, so they forced Martin to change it to "Drink from me / Drink from me..." Which is just disgusting, quite frankly.
Anohni - 4 Degrees ★ ★ ★ ★
The artist formerly known as Antony Hegarty (she now identifies as female) has described the forthcoming Hopelessness as "an electronic album with some sharp teeth". 4 Degrees is one of those incisors. It's an anguished meditation on climate change, with some of the most ominous strings this side of The Imperial March.
