A Joyful Noise – Gossip

Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto’s stellar 2011 dance EP has clearly had an effect on her band mates: this, the outfit’s fifth album, is their poppiest to date, with the band’s punk roots all but cast aside thanks to their new union with British pop geniuses Xenomania.

This is no bad thing, of course: Ditto’s a born pop star. And Xenomania rein in some of the group’s messier tendencies, ensuring A Joyful Noise is a tidy, tight 11-song set, from the angry trust fun anthem Get A Job to the infectious ‘90s house of Get Lost.

Best of all, though, is the incredible Move In The Right Direction – with Xenomania’s pet girlband Girls Aloud on extended hiatus, they’re clearly gifting some of the top shelf material meant for them to other bands. Girls Aloud’s loss is Gossip’s gain!