Patrick Wolf: 'Hard Times'

Patrick Wolf is never short of a thing or two to say, as La Roux found out recently, and his latest single finds him at his opinionated best. In fact, it's a full-on rallying cry. "Divided nation, in sedation, overload of information that we have grown up to ignore," he sings in that manlier-than-you-expect voice, before lamenting the fact that "mediocrity [is] applauded" and "ignorance is still adored".

Thankfully, his music matches the grand statements in his lyrics. A stirring combination of rock guitars and unmistakably Wolfish strings, by the time the choir swoops in to echo his calls for "revolution", 'Hard Times' has already crossed the line from foot-tapper to fist-pumper. We live in a musical climate where the word "anthemic" gets slapped onto flaccid Snow Patrol singles – hard times indeed – but this is that rare pop song that actually deserves it.


> Click here to read our review of Patrick Wolf's album The Bachelor