Nerina Pallot

The way of listening properly to Nerina Pallot’s latest single, Learning to Breath, is drawn strictly along gender lines. It’s the kind of song that a group of girls can joyfully jump up and down to at a pyjama party (having no first hand knowledge of girls’ pyjama parties ' I can only guess at what occurs) and a bloke will turn up in his car, providing he’s driving by himself. Guilt free,as long as you don’t get caught.

I’m surprised it hasn’t got more play. It’s infectiously poppy without that annoying wasp sting in the base of the brain that most infectiously poppy songs tend to cause.

The quasi-anachronistic lyrics are catchy, easy to remember, and easy to sing along to (remembering of course the previous note on suggested car capacity). They have that Cat Stevens quality to them that inspires joy with the upbeat tempo of the song, but upon closer inspection, reveal depth and genuine melancholy. Of course, unless you’re a music critic you’re unlikely to pour over the minutiae of middle verse lyric meaning, so it really remains enjoyable feel-good music.