Listen here

TRACK OF THE DAY: Out Of Control (State Of Emotion)

WHO: Ethiopian-born genre-baffler Kenna aka Kenna Zemedkun.

WHAT: New wave-flavoured R'n'B rock wannabe with the N*E*R*D boys, Fred Durst and Mark Ronson on speed-dial.

THE HYPE: 'Not only pays homage to mid-1980s England, it improves upon it' ­ Rolling Stone

WE SAY: The black-guy-lifts-white-guy's-music thing tends to produce mixed results ­ see Living Color and Lenny Kravitz ­ but Kenna's angular ouevre is nothing if not intriguing. Wilfully rough around the edges, Kenna takes The Neptunes crisp martian funk down British rain-soaked back alleys - all scuffed-up live beats, Eighties synths stabs and Robert Smith-esque vocal gymnastics.

IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: On the cusp of breaking through for some time, the failure and poor handling of his 2003 album New Sacred Cow is analysed by marketing expert Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink.

WHERE CAN I GET IT: Single released April 28 on Interscope/Star Trak. His album Make Sure They See My Face follows on May 5.

FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/kenna

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of 2008
• Hitler and the Downfall mash-ups
• Britney Spears: The Circus