PICK OF THE WEEK

Help Haiti
Everybody Hurts (Syco)

Cometh the hour, cometh the ballad with James Blunt on. This cover of the REM song is a terrible load of old shit of course, but to adopt some Actual Seriousface you've got to accept that even in pure, notes-on-a-page song terms Everybody Hurts probably is the best tune of the week. You can understand the use of an American song – Simon Cowell clearly decided long ago that US songwriters are the best choice to showcase British talent – but a ballad? At least you could dance to Band Aid.

ALSO OUT THIS WEEK

Erik Hassle
Hurtful (Island)

If it hadn't been for the Cowell Aid single, Hurtful, which was No 1 last year in this warbling Fido Dido lookalike's native Sweden, would be single of the week. It's a slightly dreamlike modern pop record which comes with a subtle but game-changing remix from Ellie Goulding cohort Starsmith. It pulls off an impressive double, too: fresh enough to stand its ground in the bustle of this annual springtime new act overload, but also conventional enough to catch the imagination of the Snow Patrol-loving millions, with the crucial distinction of not being utter rubbish. It is, in fact, the opposite of rubbish.

Sade
Soldier Of Love (RCA)

One of Twitter's more surprisingly entertaining pop star enthusiasts is songstrel Tracey Thorn, who announced, a week or so ago: "Since I sang [on Massive Attack's] Protection you wouldn't believe how many backing tracks I've been sent which sound very like the new Sade single." That, effectively, is all Soldier Of Love is: a half-familiar backing track in search of a half-memorable top line. Don't expect to see this covered by Glamma Kid Featuring Shola Ama in 10 years from now.

Taylor Swift
Today Was A Fairytale (Big Machine)

Swifto's at it again. "Today was a fairytale/ You were the prince/ I used to be a damsel in distress", she sings, and before you can stop her right there and say that Love Story remains the greatest book-based, stupidly twee country pop song of all time, she's banging on about "magic in the air". This woman seems to exist in a fantasy world in which the code of life is not DNA but a string of Clintons Cards bon mots. That probably works out fine for her label, who can pay her in magic beans, but it doesn't say much for the fans who so willingly immerse themselves in Taylor's World Of Nice.

Fe-Nix
Swagga (Genetic)

Something similar to but probably better than UK girlgroup Fe-Nix would be the eventual consequence of an infinite number of Alex Reids in an infinite number of West End nitespots handing out an infinite quantity of dubious sign-on-the-dotted-line pop management contracts. But what Fe-Nix lack in quality or originality (clue: everything) they make up in confidence, with this My Sharona-fuelled club so-called "banger", advising suitors that we must NOT FAIL to get our "swagga" on "if you want me tonight". It's a tempting invitation (clue 2: it's not).