Endlessly By Duffy, leaked from the forthcoming Endlessly (Universal); available here
We find the squeaky-voiced Welsh superstar just where we left her after her first album: on Warwick Avenue, patiently waiting for love. A sweet sixties soul ballad - the title track to a disc out Dec. 7 - is stringed and strummed, light as a wishful sigh.
Snow By the Zolas, from Our First Christmas (Light Organ Records); streaming here
"December's when I miss you most/ The sky is like a silver cloak." The forecast calls for flurries of wistful, snazzy pop-rock when a lonely young man associates winter with soft things that once kept him warm. Bundle up, bucko.
You Know I'm No Good By Wanda Jackson, from the forthcoming The Party Ain't Over (Third Man/Warner); available here
The fifties rockabilly queen returns, coaxed by White Striper Jack White to scandalize the Shady Grove retirement home with a hypnotic cover of the Amy Winehouse vamp. Jabbing horns and a boozy outro set the tone for a torch tune about a bad gal who only cheats herself.
Umbrella/Singin' in the Rain By Glee cast, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and Matthew Morrison; available here
On a wet-weather mash-up, the unremarkable singing of the anti-Rihanna and brolly-sharing Paltrow hardly dampens the glee of Morrison, who feels glorious, laughs at clouds and croons like Gene Kelly danced.