Kenny Wheeler One of Many Octogenarian star and still-fluent flugelhornist Wheeler seems to have more creative projects in the pipeline now than at any time in his long career. On One of Many, he explores his poignant harmonies and bittersweet themes in the all-star company of British pianist John Taylor and American bass guitarist Steve Swallow. John Fordham
Nick Lowe Cruel to Be Kind Classic pop, from his 1979 album Labour of Lust, which has just been rereleased. Robin Denselow
Madam The Snake Madam – former EastEnders actor Sukie Smith – specialises in small, spooked, goth-inclined acoustic pieces. This song from her new album, about a woman befriending a snake, is as eerie as anything she's done. Caroline Sullivan
Dum Dum Girls There Is a Light That Never Goes Out The Brookyln girl-group indiepoppers' new EP concludes with an effort at one of pop's great uncoverable songs. By replacing the Smiths' swooning, melodramatic melancholy with a kind of blank-eyed sigh, they just about make it coverable. The rest of the EP's grand, too. Michael Hann
Rainbow Arabia This Life Is Practice These Kompakt signings combine MIA-style globetrotting with otherworldly synthpop reminiscent of the Knife. But when it clicks, there's an optimism and uplift in the music that makes pointing out these obvious influences seem like nit-picking. Tom Ewing
Noah and the Whale Life Is Life It's rare these days for a band to make three great albums, each better than the last. Noah and the Whale have done it, and this driving, electro-flecked song provides a suitably stirring and optimistic opener. Chris Salmon
Black Uhuru (left) Party Next Door BBC4's Reggae Britannia inspired a reggae splurge that led me to this stonking 12in from 1983: roots music at its most danceable and enjoyable. Dave Simpson
