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5 / 10 Two years ago, Alphabeat, a Danish six-piece apparently played by the cast of Lazytown, were heralded as the future of pop. Then, despite their debut charting in the Top 10, EMI dropped them for financial reasons. Now signed to Polydor, they’re back with the abrupt musical swerve that is ‘The Beat Is…’. What that ellipsis leads on to is Shannon, Black Box, Madonna and, in its most dubious of moments, Whigfield. Alphabeat have bravely stripped away all the bubblegum that originally made them popular in favour of the Euro-dance years of the late-’80s/early-’90s. The result is stronger than you might think, but too inconsistent and devoid of depth to stand out on a battlefield where Gaga rules all.

Stephen Kelly

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