Watch: Rob Bravery - "Knock Out Ginger" [Premiere]

Things kick off with ominous detuned synths oozing all over a spare hip-hop beat. The music is a perfect soundtrack for the eerie, flickering (and, it must be said, superbly well-edited) visuals that accompany it. It’s also an excellent backdrop to showcase Bravery’s greatest skill: a unique vocal style that captures the emotional tension of the greatest alternative icons (say, Thom Yorke) without losing the sleek purity of a more traditional pop singer (heresy, I know, but there’s a touch of Michael Jackson here).

These qualities are never more apparent than on the song’s chorus, where the electronic current that runs throughout is briefly left behind and that brilliant voice glides over the warm major notes of an honest-to-God piano. Knockout indeed.

Speaking about the track, Bravery said: "'Knock Out Ginger' is the first single from my new album, 'Esque', which will go out early next year. I wrote the song shortly after a meeting with an A&R person who advised me to go away and write some choruses. Lyrically, it's basically a collection of childhood scenes. Like Schumann's 'Kinderszenen' but with a difficult chorus."

Knock Out Ginger is released on November 11 (buy here).

Stream the track below too: