Please allow Katie Melua to introduce herself: "I'd love to kill you while you eat," she sings over the eerie pedal steel guitar of the opening track. The Soviet Georgia-born, British-raised singer-songwriter is a superstar in the U.K., but she's barely registered in the States. The House, her fourth disc, is a stylistic leap for the theatrical performer who owes no small debt to Kate Bush. Melua tapped Madonna producer William Orbit to add a little sparkle to guilty pleasures like the sci-fi disco fantasy "Tiny Alien," but keeps things grounded on organic bluesy brooders like "The One I Love Is Gone." A mixed bag of atmospherics that somewhat justifies Melua's chart-topping popularity back home.

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”