No one gets any joy out of such news and, despite the changing nature of the industry, falling CD sales and massive reorganisation, there still exists a stigma associated with "being dropped". Over the past year or so, Bell X1 have outsold every other Irish rock act bar U2, Damien Rice and Snow Patrol, but haven't really done anything special in Britain. Whatever label their next release is on, and whether they jumped or were pushed, parting company with Island is not the end of the world.

Single of the week Kings Of Leon: 'On Call' FROM the forthcoming follow-up to 2005's Aha Shake Heartbreak, 'On Call' is a laid-back, funky piece of singalong blues with, for the first time ever, vocal effects.

Don't worry, it works and the Nashville-based quartet's new album, Because Of The Times, will be released shortly.

MySpace. com/kingsofleon Know your station, RT�? JINX LENNON, one of the most undervalued 'singer-songwriters' in Ireland today, is to feature in the forthcoming RT�? series, Arts Lives. The Dundalk rapper is to be the centre of one of the documentaries in much the same way as Damien Dempsey was a couple of years back. Surely that can only mean greatness awaits Jinx as well.

Taking the Mika FREDDY MERCURY wannabe Mika found an unsurprising alibi in Queen guitarist Brian May last week when May called on Guardian rock critic Alex Petridis to resign over the latter's scathing review of Life In Cartoon Motion.

Petridis, dubbed a "wanker" by May, gave a lengthy slating to the album in a 'one star' review.

Considering much of the negativity was directed at 1Queen, and the band's spin-off musical (Petridis said We Will Rock You was "theatrical entertainment so shoddy it makes your average nativity play look like Ibsen"), it was hardly a surprise May was so put out by the review.

Oh, and Petridis was largely correct in his review: the Mika album is self-indulgent nonsense.