Darren Hayman and Emma Kupa - Boy, Look at What You Can't Have Now (Fortuna Pop!)

When these two met they wanted to make a record that sounded like Bryan Adams an Sporty Spice as possible. Bloody students. Thank God they've failed.

'Boy Look at What You Can't Have Now' is more like a pair of jealous kittens spitting out barbs than anything you'll find on Now 65. Think of Tom Jones and her out of Catatonia, and then forget them immediately because that song was a crime against humanity, whilst this discordant rattle through self-defiance is a slow-burning beauty.

I used to love Hefner, you know. There was a time when I hung off every Darren Hayman lyric, but I haven't really hit it off with much of his solo stuff. However, a sprinkle of Emma Kupa on anyone's cornflakes is enough to transform the mundane into the magical. There are rumours of a duet album. That might fill the Standard Fare-shaped hole in my life for a while, but for now, this is very nice, thank you very much.

'Boy, Look at what You Can't Have Now' is out on Fortuna Pop! on 3rd March.