Listen here

TRACK: Headlock

WHO: Essex boy pop demon Ben Esser.

WHAT: The acceptable face of wideboy experimentalism.

HYPE: "Playchool pirate pop" - NME

WE SAY: Following up his impressively fine debut single I Love You for Merok, Esser does his Littlest Hobo trick and wanders off to another label for his next. Finding a home on the achingly swell Transgressive Records and a buddy in ouch-hot producer Lexxx, Headlock feels like Damon Albarn when he’s having one of his chirpy days in the mid-Nineties, but with a devilish DIY bedroom chic approach.

This doesn’t sound unlike Aphex Twin joined on Saturday morning kids TV by Jamie T. Beats crunch underfoot like glass-encrusted snow and electronica trills enthusiastically like a first-day work experience kid who hasn’t discovered life’s cruel truths, while Esser’s dry musings on life and love get pushed through a Charlie And The Chocolate Factory brightly coloured perky melodic filter.

It’s a total pop nugget, an absolute gem that will utterly vindicate the invention of the ipod’s shuffle function when you hear it.

IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: Having already toured with Foals and Mystery Jets this year, Esser are part of the Transgressive tour which is kicking about the country as we speak/type/read, and also features the likes of Liam Finn and Jeremy Warmsley.

WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON IT: Headlock is available to download for free from Esserhq.com from July 19 and is released on Transgressive on August 4.

FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/esserhq

Explore Music

• Festivals

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• U2 at Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona
• The 50 Best Movie Villains
• The 15 golden rules of theatre etiquette