Janelle Monae returns to the UK for a one off live show at Koko on September 8th, Monae remains one of the hot tickets at the moment with her album ‘The Arachandroid’ receiving a brisk slew of positive reviews from the music press. She has recently supported No Doubt, Paramore and Erykah Badu cementing her reputation for quality live performances leading The Guardian to describe her as ‘the most exciting new artist in the world’, that’s bold talking to say the least but it has to be said, she is rather good. There’s a direct link to booking a ticket below if you fancy nipping along.

Next up is Sarah Blasko, critically acclaimed in her homeland of Australia she’s already released a little clutch of absolutely blinding singles over here which makes me wonder why her profile isn’t perhaps a little higher than it is. Her new single ‘No Turning Back’ is out on Dramatico on August 30th. It continues a trend of blending her languid soul vocals with a loping musical backdrop that blends gentle acoustics with a stomping drum beat. Its first rate stuff and gets the full thumbs up in these quarters. It comes armed with a nice little animated video as well. Links for the vid and Ms Blasko’s site are also below.