Jon McLaughlin

Fresh-faced songwriter Jon McLaughlin comes out of the gate with "Beating My Heart," a track that weaves his influences (the spacey synth ambiance of David Gray, the falsetto R&B strut of Maroon 5) into a confident single. The walloping choruses on McLaughlin's other slickly produced four-minute poppers stack up like a painfully catchy soundtrack to a nu-pop workout tape -- the "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" guitar riff makes it easy to imagine Jane Fonda's paralegal niece "rocking her body" along with "Dance Your Life Away." It closes with the suspiciously pitch-perfect doo-wop tune "We All Need Saving."