Out Getting Ribs- Zoo Kid

One of the newest talents to emerge from South East London, Zoo Kid could easily trick you into thinking he is an electro inspired, La Roux copy (especially from his haircut). His image successfully manages to deceive you into a pleasant surprise when you listen to the music. With guitars reminiscent of The Maccabees and early Foals, it's hard to believe that Zoo Kid (Archie Marshall) is only 16. His voice evokes emotion and reels you in, wanting to hear more and complimenting his cleverly layered guitars. This is definitely one to watch for 2011.

Ritual- White Lies

After the highly acclaimed and gloomy debut To Lose My Life, there was a lot of pressure on White Lies' shoulders to exceed expectations with their sophomore attempt. Harry's vocals are even more haunting and powerful, subtly making a further transition into their Joy Division influenced sound. Bringing their sound into more epic proportions, they have ditched heavily guitar featured songs for synths, trying to recreate their well known sound while taking a new approach towards their music. Opener for Ritual, Is Love, is tinged in arpeggiated synths and has the best lyrics from the album, "Scarlet as a papercut and jewelled as the orion, she never wore that jewellery as a girl".

The religious references are scattered throughout the album and these hint to the trip that was taken to Tibet in which Charles Cave got some of his inspiration for the lyrics on Ritual. Some may argue that White Lies have taken their ambition too far and have left some of their old fans behind in a bid to become more successful and from interviews, this looks as if this is their actual intention. Although the songs work better as individual songs and do not flow properly as an album, every song is very careful constructed and thoroughly thought out.

8/10