Doves : Caught By The River

Perhaps an obvious choice, the third single from Doves' glorious 'The Last Broadcast' is a return to the straightforward, acoustic, radio-friendly feel of their early hit 'Catch The Sun'. But underneath the musical simplicity, Doves maintain an emotion only matched this year by Coldplay. Like that Manchester legend of yore Morrissey, they manage brilliantly to take a fundamentally melancholy song - the narrative tells the story of a father watching helplessly as his son's life unravels - and make it empowering, uplifting, anthemic. More than a handy stopgap before their UK tour next month, 'Caught By The River', is also handy reminder that there's more than one band this year capable of putting America - ahem - in its place.

Julian Marshall