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Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>

There Will Be Tears is a pensive, restless track, courtesy of Mr Hudson, whose tender, bruised, vocoder-filtered voice is the star of the show. It’s the saddest song I’ve heard in a long time, reminiscent of Hot Chip in their more introspective moments with a touch of Jamie T’s street swagger.

Though the blonde, sharply-dressed Brummie does look an awful lot like he ought to be stuck in the classroom of a Monday morning, trying to hammer knowledge into apathetic teenagers, you would be unwise to mistake Mr Hudson, real name Ben Hudson, for a lowly teaching assistant.

His name is familiar because he the singer/songwriter/producer who made the album A Tale Of Two Cities with fellow musicians in March 2007. The album was released under the moniker Mr Hudson and the Library, and he and the rest of the band played gigs in libraries up and down the country to promote their debut. A Tale Of Two Cities was noted for its thought-provoking lyrics and easygoing reggae-

inspired feel, and featured the catchy single Too Late Too Late, but though it was appreciated by many music critics, it did not gain much ground with the masses.

Having lost his ‘library’ suffix and, it seems, his fellow band members, replacing them with the patronage of Kanye West, Semtex and Dizzee Rascal, could 26-year-old Mr Hudson’s next single There Will Be Tears see him ascend the glitzy staircase to mainstream success? I doubt it. There’s nothing wrong with this track, but it is a very subtle, quiet, slight little number, and I’m not sure it has the clout to pull off chart-topping success. That’s not to say it isn’t moving. The lyrics are the most interesting thing about There Will Be Tears, as they detail a broken relationship in intimate, resounding detail. You can tell they have been crafted with someone possessed of half a brain because the imagery and the ‘story’ are balanced perfectly, so that they make sense and strike a chord with the listener. But it’s a grower. I’m not sure we have time for growers any more.

Anyone who has listened to 808s and Heartbreaks will know about Kanye’s recent predilection for using distortion and synth, and Mr Hudson channels him in There Will Be Tears by adding a harder quality to his voice in the verses which contrasts with the chorus’ choral backing vox embellishments.

Melancholic piano chords, a steel drum riff, static whistling noises and the drums, which sound like a heartbeat: There Will Be Tears  adds up to a song with a sparse texture. The refrain ‘Can’t be there with you / But I can dream’ expresses loss, but also tries, futilely, to get around it. Sophisticated, sentimental, and deeply unfashionable, this isn’t one for the kids.