Single Selection: The latest releases (McFly; Pink; Westlife)

I am full of cold. My nose needs a plunger. My eyes have porters to carry the bag (don't forget to tip). Every part of body aches (except bizarrely, my left foot). And I accidentally just took 2 headache tablets with the same ingredients as the lemsip which i took an hour before, so I may very well be dead by the end of this post. How ghastly. I feel like the Balderlaire children in A Series of Unfortunate Events (that should have been a series of 1 hour Nickelodeon cartoons rather than a movie franchise). I am getting delirious. On with the posticles...

The pop stalwarts...

• P!nk ~ Raise Your Glass: I am loving all the nitty gritty dirty little freaks in P!nk's new single from her upcoming 10 years in the biz greatest hits album. It - like the majority of P!nk singles - is a very good song indeed and smashingly catchy. It's a Max Martin number so it has pop goodness baked into the very core of it's essence and is one of those communal, come and join the party, singalong numbers that P!nk does so well - and delivers with such irreverent bombast. Lyrically, it's very fun and a great getting ready to go out on a Saturday night type tune with a brilliant celebratory feel. So not only a champion single, but a blasting choice to represent the greatest hits. Score (PS check out the comments for what I think should be the greatest hits tracklisting)...
• McFly ft Taio Cruz ~ Shine A Light: Aw, those crazy McFly scamps are all grown up (and buff). They continue to go back to the future with their more dance orientated sound and even rope in Taio Cruz to give them a hand on their new single. The result still remains a bit of a shock compared to their older stuff, but it's fair to say that the shimmering pop sheen of this tune still has all the elements of their earlier music (big chorus, catchy, energetic) just wrapped up in a different bow. What's rather good (other than those enticing "eh eh eh"s in the chorus) about this track is that it actually gets better and more rewarding with each listen compared to the more immediate Party Girl. It's a new McFly but one I'm totally down with...
• Westlife ~ Safe: You really can't go wrong with a bit of the 'Loife if that is your cup of tea. And it is (my cup of tea). I'm still a bit sad that their last album was abandoned far too quickly - an X Factor performance weeks before it was released and then no other singles, though I could have chosen at least four. Yet it still sold over 600k in the UK, so still has a sizeable fan base out there. Their new song is an uplifting and soaring tune that Westlife are well known for. There are some lovely harmonies and young Mark does a sterling vocal effort on the second verse that shows what a gifted fella he is. It's also nice to prominently hear Kian and Nicky (rar!) in the mix too. Looking forward to the inevitable X-Factor performance of this :)

Coming soon: Brandon Flowers & Darin video breakdown; F**k you, but not who you think; singles from pop up and comers; singer songwriters spesh! PLUS THE X FACTOR LIVE SHOWS!!!!!