As far as singles go usually of late if there is any involvement from Wyclef Jean involved then I generally feel my eyes narrowing and my gag reflex kicking in. Such is his drop in credibility since the heady days of The Fugees. This time round there is little respite from this feeling as he guests on Kevin Michael’s latest release ‘It Don’t Make Any Difference To Me (1 Love)”. As is the norm this is a warmed over slab of cod reggae that even UB40 would probably have left alone with Wyclef doing his usual random “one love” chunterings in the background. While the lyrical sentiment is pleasant enough (racial unity) it is done in a sufficiently hackneyed and calculated way as to make me want to pull out my eyeballs, put them on skewers and ram them into my ears. Truly the world is a cruel place…

Thankfully where there is evil there is usually good to counter it, today that comes in the form of The Gospel featuring Kira with her BrownPunk release ‘Skating Your Pool’. This is good stuff, a heartsick powerhouse vocal that drapes itself seductively over a military backbeat and some claustrophobic buzz saw guitars. Tricky himself gets in on the act with a suitably overcast remix which adds his usual stamp of dysfunctional darkness to proceedings. It’s the kind of mix you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley late at night because at the very least it would lean in close and threaten you.