The Script: 'We Cry'

The Script are an Irish trio who learned their trade from LA's very best R&B producers. In record company speak, that makes them "U2 meets Timbaland" or "Van Morrison remixed by Teddy Riley". Would that it were true! This debut single actually sounds like Maroon 5 with a sexier bassline and hipper beats – it's lightly funky MOR pop.

In fact, the group's R&B apprenticeship only really shows in frontman Danny O'Donoghue, whose vocal performance is pitched half-way between Compton and County Clare. His lyrics, meanwhile, are as socially-conscious as an article from The Big Issue, dealing with the thwarted ambitions of a teenage single mum, a drug-addled muso and a housewife with political aspirations. 'We Cry' might be a tad overwrought for some palates, especially when the choir swoops in, but there's no denying the craft behind it.