PUT YOUR HANDS INTO THE FLAME.

Last month, Ellie Goulding stormed back onto the scene (without ever even leaving the charts) with her collaboration with Xaphoon Jones, as they took on The Weeknd's "High For This". This week her triumphant return continues, as she's back with yet another massive cover collaboration, this time joining forces with Tinie Tempah to reinvent Active Child's "Hanging On". All dressed up in oscillating M83 synths and the weight of the world hanging in the balance of the mix, "Hanging On" sounds like a song Ellie was put on this earth to sing, but it's Tinie who stuns in equal measures, absolutely going IN on one of his best verses to date.

MP3: "Hanging On" (ft. Tinie Tempah)" - Ellie Goulding

FAR FROM FADING.

It's been a minute since we last heard from Manchester's The Kill Van Kulls, but they've been hard at work further honing their epic noir-pop for their debut EP, Songs For Sinners, announced last month alongside new single "Impossible Man" (video above). Good news for all though, the new material is just a hair's breadth from achieving new wave perfection, cementing the four-piece as a band to keep an eye on for 2012 and beyond.

Although our favorite cut from the EP, "Shame & Pride," may sound like Keira Knightley's next Oscar-baiting film on paper, it's actually the soundtrack to an emotional rollercoaster of reckless hedonism that we can fully get on board with. With the swagger of Friendly Fires and a glint of M83 in their starry eyes, The Kullers command a Bowie-in-space bassline and an immensely atmospheric guitar riff that will firmly entrench itself in your consciousness in no time at all.

MP3: "Shame & Pride" - The Kill Van Kulls [exclusive]

CITY IS MY CHURCH.

A few months ago we'd have told you "Midnight City" - our number one song of last year - was just about uncoverable, but leave it to The Knocks to prove us wrong once again. Eschewing the production of the M83 original in favor of an extreme disco makeover, they enlist the talents of 20 year old Queens native Mandy Lee on the track, who explodes onto the scene out of nowhere and absolutely smashes the vocal out of the park . The Knocks are quickly establishing themselves as some of the best talent spotters in the game, and it looks like they may well have another superstar on their hands in Lee. Expect big things.

DOWNLOAD: "Midnight City" (ft. Mandy Lee) - The Knocks

CROSSED THE LINE AT NIGHT.

Finding their niche somewhere between the star-crossed dual vocals of Stars and the massive hooks and pop production of Sky Ferreira, DWNTWN's debut single "Transition" comes off like a radio-friendly pop smash masquerading as an accessible indie floor-filler. Beginning innocently enough, eerie droplets fall from the upper octave onto the dashboard as the female vocal shifts gears, adds a male passenger and goes from 0-100 in 8 seconds flat. Shining a light on that tragic post-relationship grey area, the single debunks all conventions of what is and isn't chart-worthy and vies for the stars and nothing less.

The blunt jungle beats and cross-hatching sonic flourishes absorb the brunt of the heartbreak lodged deep in the verses. While DWNTWN lacks vowels, the track achieves supersonic consonance, marrying a Top 40 prechorus reminiscent of Sky's "ONE" with an ethereal chorus flaunting ice cold synths that sound as if they crash landed from the uncharted planet of M83. It's a big track, and with the incomparable DJ Skeet Skeet (y'all heard his new Foster The People remix? FUEGO.) helming the ship on the management side of things, you can expect to hear a lot more out of these two in the months to come. Get familiar.

MP3: "Transition" - DWNTWN [exclusive]

WAITING FOR A RIDE IN THE DARK.

“Midnight City” starts with an air raid and ends with an all-out deep space assault - what initially sounds like an intergalactic SOS is just the primer for an epic sendoff by the song's conclusion. Cue drum hits straight out of Phil Collin’s playbook and synth surges ripped from the clutches of our very own Neon Gold dreamcatcher, the kind of brilliant sonic flourishes that would make Mille or Sound of Arrows green with envy. Missing in action for a solid three years, M83 prove they weren't dead, just gearing up to bring the sexy back in a big way, as their signature ethereal vocal harmonies bring chills to the spine and play nice with that brazen sax sound that seems to have become the de rigeur in Big Pop Music in summer 2011. It’s a true return to form for the French stargazers, as we giddily await the October 18th release of their forthcoming fifth album, titled Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, which conveniently enough sums up our feelings exactly as we lose ourselves in the ether of "Midnight City".

MP3: "Midnight City" - M83