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With over a decade of experience, and five albums under his belt, Maximo Park’s frontman Paul Smith has more than earned his stripes in the music industry. So who better to review the week’s new music?

Ahead of their appearance on the main stage at Kendal Calling this summer, we sent Smith the week’s most exciting releases - from Bat For Lashes to Chance The Rapper via Red Hot Chili Peppers - and asked for his thoughts.

Shura - ‘What’s It Gonna Be?’

"More frothy than a finely-whipped cappachino, this slice of Candyfloss Pop has its charms and doesn't outstay its welcome either. If the Breakfast Club was constituted of Urban Outfitters acolytes rather than lovelorn '80s nerds in suit jackets with rolled-up sleeves, then perhaps this would be their updated soundtrack."

Red Hot Chili Peppers - ‘The Getaway’

"After a promising start featuring some pleasingly aerodynamic clipped funk, this song flatlines a little, lacking the joy of this (knowingly?) ludicrous band's best work. Credit to the cartoonish sock-rockers for stepping outside of their comfort zone, but without a truly purposeful hook, this song drifts into anonymity, which, love them or hate them, is something you wouldn't usually report with this act. And, erm, do have a look at the album cover if nothing else."

The Strokes - ‘Oblivius’

"I suspect the wibbly Dave Longstreth meets Samuel T. Herring vocal delivery will garner most of the initial attention and rightly so, since it marks a slight shift in the more recent Strokes sound. Otherwise, it's business as usual, with the immediacy of their earlier albums jettisoned in favour of a more elastic grip on songwriting. If this song was a ship it'd be a scuzzy yacht, captained by a rich recovering-alcoholic golfer."

Slow Club - ‘Ancient Rolling Sea’

"This song lopes pleasantly into the sunset propelled by a growling bass throb that anchors the featherlight melody. Like a British Grizzly Bear, there's something tender and heartfelt, yet non-demonstrative about this music. It's the opposite of in-your-face and all the better for it."

Woodkid and Nils Frahm feat. Robert De Niro - ‘Winter Morning II’

"Well, Pop Pickers, I wasn't expecting to be reviewing Robert De Niro in this week's batch of new singles, and although there are only one-minute samples online, I can already say it beats his performance in the trailer for Dirty Grandpa. Keyboardist Nils Frahm has a winning way with a plaintive melody so I'm guessing this soundtrack to a film about refugees will be suitably moving and sombre. Proceeds go to the charity Sea Watch, so I'll be buying this one and I'd like to make the suggestion that you do too."

Haim - ‘Nothing's Wrong’

"Haim's debut album is one of my most-played albums of the last few years. This song is so new, I'm reviewing a YouTube video of the band playing it live. The talented trio have come up with another slice of slick MOR funk-pop, brimming with vim, and if you can't dig that, then you need to loosen up. I can think of no higher praise than saying it reminds me of Pat Benatar."

Garbage - ‘Even Though Our Love Is Doomed’

"Shirley Manson was always one of the Alternative Nation's more bold and outspoken characters. This song is a showcase for the brooding side of that character, with a finale that eventually hits the button marked 'engagingly creepy'. Before that though, the glacial pace does the song no favours and I found myself yearning for musical diversions. The video features lots of animals hunting each other and I could've done with a little more wild life in the song itself."

Bat For Lashes - ‘Sunday Love’

"I've always been a fan of Natasha Khan's music. There's a frailty to her voice that is very engaging. This song reminds me of her first record but with an insistent electronic backing that propels it forward and takes her music somewhere else. The characters she inhabits often have otherworldly qualities but I'm drawn to the more vulnerable, everyday aspects of her various personas."

Chance The Rapper feat. 2Chainz + Lil Wayne - ‘No Problem’

"The death of autotune gets no closer, it appears. I'm not against it per se but surely mainstream rap needs to move on at some point soon? If anything, Chance The Rapper gives the gimmick a stay of execution here. Thankfully, the main sampled hook that underpins this track features a rejigged gospel hook that really gets under the skin. I've got a lot of time for Lil Wayne and his giddy guest rap stands out in terms of delivery if not entirely in content. Recently, I've been increasingly disillusioned by the macho posturing and misogynistic language contained within the rap music I love. The same goes for the odd line here and there in Weezy's rap about 'bitches' and 'pussy'. If nothing else, it's become repetitive, and it now feels regressive to me, like sexist TV hosts from the 1970s patting a woman's bottom. Rap music is joyful and the bragging, competitive aspect is part of the genre's DNA, but this casual, crude disparagement of women and their genitalia sticks in the craw."

No Problem video w 2chainz & Lil Wayne Coloring Book tour tix soon!!https://t.co/pUjsSIDzC8

— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) May 26, 2016

Kendal Calling takes place between 28 and 31 July. Get tickets and more information here.

More about: Maximo ParkKendal Calling Festival