Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga & Royskopp all return with great new tracks
Wall-to-wall bangers dropping all in one day
The 9 September might seem like a fairly unremarkable date, but - lo - the music gods (or rather, record labels) have decided that this should be the day upon which they bless us with not one, not two, but three absolutely brilliant new tunes.
So without further ado - wrap your ears around these beauties.
Kings of Leon - Waste a Moment
Kings of Leon are back with their first new music since 2013's Mechanical Bull and don't worry: it's a no-nonsense belter. Straight in with that familiar guitar work and pounding drums, this is as close as they've come to another Sex On Fire (in fact you could probably shout the chorus to that over the top of this one). It's good to have them back - their seventh album WALLS is due 14 October.
Lady Gaga - Perfect Illusion
Is she still the world's biggest popstar? Well, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber would probably have something to say about that, but the stakes are high for Gaga after the relative disappointment of 2013's Artpop and 2014's diversion into jazz with her Cheek to Cheek Tony Bennett record. She's not messing about in her quest to retain her title as queen of pop, with Mark Ronson executive-producing her forthcoming as-yet-untitled record and this song being a straight-up, no-nonsense all-guns-blazing pop banger. It's actually quite melancholic, but she gives a Bonnie Tyler-meets-Heart full-on vocal performance to lift the whole thing up - and steady yourselves for the best pop key change since I Want It That Way at 1:50.
Röyksopp - Never Ever feat. Susanne Sundfør
Our heart jumped when we saw that Norwegian electro gods Röyksopp had teamed up once again with Susanne Sundfør, who guested with the band on the stunning Running to the Sea, the highlight of 2014 record The Inevitable End. We're pleased to report that the results are just as good, although it's a completely different style of song, being a funky, fidgety electro-pop blast. If Daft Punk had come back with this, it would have been number one for weeks.
