Five songs to hear this week (Jan 15-21)

The Last Shadow Puppets, the side-project of Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane, are back with new material after seven years. Having channelled The Walker Brothers last time, a new song, Bad Habits, has mush more urgency and shouting.

Texan instrumental rock band Explosions in the Sky have been busy with film soundtracks lately, but are back in April with their fifth album proper. A grandiose new song, Disintegration Anxiety, paves the way.

Grime veteran Kano is back in March with what he says is his most personal album yet. His comeback single, 3 Wheel-Ups, features powerful synth stabs and assistance from his fellow rappers Wiley and Giggs.

Scottish folk man James Yorkston’s latest project takes his traditional sound somewhere else entirely. Yorkston/Thorne/Khan is a collaboration with jazz double bass player Jon Thorne and New Delhi singer and sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan. A lovely album, Everything Sacred, is out today.

Most people won’t have been bothering with new music this week, however, after David Bowie’s death sent them straight back to the likes of Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs. A song from his new album, Lazarus, has been one of the most streamed on Spotify this week, its first verse feeling particularly poignant now: “Look up here, I'm in heaven/I've got scars that can't be seen/I've got drama, can't be stolen/Everybody knows me now.”