Throw Your Arms Around Me
By Ed Sheeran
The Hunters and Collectors’ classic ballad has endured since 1984 because of its three-chord simplicity, its Irish folk heart underneath H&C’s wiry guitars, and how the lyrics of Mark Seymour swerve sweetly and weirdly between lust and love. Crowded House – a band which included Seymour’s brother Nick – did a good version. Ed Sheeran has done his to mark the 50th anniversary of the late Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Records, the Aussie rock impresario having been a career mentor to him. Sheeran apparently first heard the song when Seymour sung it at a Gudinski memorial show. His own recorded version is well, nice enough, and sounds like it’s destined for a few more funeral playlists, especially as he’s dropped the original’s big roar of an ending and the multi-Sheeran harmonies have sure squeezed the sex out of it. – Russell Baillie
The Parting Glass
by boygenius and Ye Vagabonds
And speaking of Irish folk … boygenius and folk duo Ye Vagabonds have released an emotional, vocal-driven recording of the centuries’ old song, The Parting Glass. It’s a continuation of Phoebe Bridger’s annual holiday charity singles with proceeds going to the Aisling Project, an after-school effort for kids growing up in a disadvantaged area of Dublin, the charity as chosen by the Sinéad O’Connor Estate. O’Connor herself performed a beautiful rendition in 2002, and this version is notably more reflective and subdued. – Alana Rae
West End Girls
by Sleaford Mods
And talking of charity singles … Brit electronic pop geezers Sleaford Mods give the Pet Shop Boys hit a respectful refit up for the UK homeless charity Shelter. The duo drags the song through some rough parts of town, but it makes for a sweetly nostalgic synthpop ride all the same. Also included on the four-track EP (out on vinyl next month) is a remix by the Pet Shop Boys themselves, and one by HiFi Sean that drags the 1984 song all the way to 1992 or thereabouts. – Russell Baillie
Offer Down
By Mel Parsons
With her increasingly distinctive voice and its beaten-down quality, here, local singer-songwriter Parsons has exactly the right tone for a song about offering art up for consideration and waiting for it to be picked up which has been her lot in a getting-mighty-crowded landscape. Simple, concise, and not too far removed from the mood of last year’s successful Slow Burn album. It’s also about being a slow burner – but having to have a very long fuse. – Graham Reid
Oral
By Björk and Rosalía
With sweeping strings and punchy beats this may sound like Björk has reined herself in for this duet with the equally experimental Spanish singer Rosalia, but there’s a serious message behind this song which dates back decades but never found a home on Björk’s albums. It addresses “the devastating impact of poorly regulated, Norwegian-owned commercial salmon farming operations on Iceland’s native ecosystems.” It’s very seductive, as expected comes with an inventive clip and funds raised go to those non-profit organisations supporting protesters. Worthy cause but also a hypnotic slice of left-field pop. – Graham Reid
아스라이 Aseurai
by Phoebe Rings
Tāmaki Makaurau band Phoebe Rings have returned with a standalone single following their last album in 2020. 아스라이 Aseurai is floaty and shimmery in its instrumentation, with vibrant strings and jazzy bass-guitar moments. Band leader, Crystal Choi, wrote and performed the lyrics in Korean after the passing of her grandmother. All listeners can feel the emotion and realness to Choi’s performance, maybe due to the many times the band has played it live before capturing it in the studio. Phoebe Rings have nailed a dynamic but boppy song, hopefully a sign of good things to come. – Alana Rae
Focus on Nature
by Bevis Frond
Bevis Frond is Britain’s Nick Saloman who has released more than 30 albums since the mid-80s (2021′s double Little Eden is worth checking out). Here again he shows he’s still bringing psychedelic guitar to his memorable melodies, shaky vocals and rock songs which peel off from Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Ray Davies’ social observation. If you’ve sidestepped Bevis/Saloman here is a fine psych-pop starter for a long journey of discovery. – Graham Reid
Puccini, ‘Visi d’arte’ from Tosca
By Maria Callas soprano, La Scala Theatre Orchestra, Victor de Sabata conductor.
Calling anything or anyone the greatest ever is a mug’s game. Nevertheless, if you asked 100 opera singers to name their craft’s best, the result would almost certainly be a win for Maria Callas, who would have turned 100 on December 2. For history’s greatest opera singer, she didn’t have much of a voice, and her flawed technique meant her peak was mayfly brief. Tebaldi, Schwarzkopf, and numerous others could sing rings around her. But as an artist, has she ever been matched? – Richard Betts
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