(Video) Lady Gaga - The Edge Of Glory

I think, like most people, I'm rather confused by Lady Gaga's current release schedule. Her new single (can we really call it 'new'?) has been out for yonks now, since before the album came out even. It's charted highly already, yet now, weeks later, Gaga puts out a video for it.

What will this do? Sell a few more copies? Maybe a lot more? Probably. But the feeling is that this is more about Gaga doing what's made a career out of, making an 'artistic statement'.

Perhaps it's surprising then that The Edge Of Glory is incredibly straightforward in comparison to her last two videos. In a way it's refreshing, a return to the feel of the Pokerface/Just Dance videos, where Gaga looks relatively normal, and just larks about a bit, dancing around a small set.

In this case, it's a grimy night-time street scene - and it all looks very retro; those house fronts/fire escapes that seemed all the rage in music videos back in the 80s and early 90s. Literally everyone seemed to be busting a move off them.

Personally, I quite like the video. Gaga looks good in it, and the lighting and tone is all rather nice. It suits the song. But what takes away from this video the most though is that you can watch the first minute of it, and in that minute, pretty much see all there is to see here. There is no development, nothing happens later on. And for someone of such grand visions as Gaga, it seems quite surprising.

And to be quite honest, I'm still loving Judas. Now there's a music video and a half.

Beyonce - Girls (Who Run The World)

In the immediate aftermath of Lady Gaga premiering Judas, everything else seems a little overshadowed - but the wheels of pop music must keep moving ever onward, and so today we have the demo version of Beyonce's new single Girls (Who Run The World). Sampling Major Lazer's Pon De Floor, details about the song and photos from its accompanying video have slowly leaked out over the past weaks, gradually raising excitement levels to breaking point.

I have to say though, on first listen to the demo, I'm not convinced. The song just doesn't gel with me. "That love we can devour" bit is very nice though. Beyonce is at her best when she strikes that perfect balance between fierce and incredibly sexy and this bit is bang on the money. The song then launches into the frantic, chanty chorus - but you can't help but feel it falls short in comparison to the likes of Single Ladies.

Also, with the Major Lazer sample, the best bit of the song isn't even used! Anyone who has been out clubbing in the past year or so will have heard the Major Lazer track played to death, and they will instantly be able to recognise the iconic hook, but it's not here! I hear it is absent only in this demo version however and the proper single release will see the hook restored. Phew!

The thing is, Beyonce has always been a pro in crafting tracks that sneak up on you sideways. For Girls (Who Run The World) is not a straight pop track - but regardless, it remains great for radio, great for clubs. Beyonce covers all bases, and as proved by her Glastonbury headline slot, commands immense credibility. Her I Am Sasha Fierce phase catapulted her into fully fledged dance diva superstar and Girls represents the next step in that progression.

This demo version is tantalisingly incomplete - in this format it disappoints, but the touches of greatness are definitely in here somewhere, shining seams of gold buried just below the surface. Fingers crossed that the final version is every inch the pop stormer we might expect from a Beyonce lead single.


Girls (Who Run the World) - Beyoncé by HDMI44

Lady Gaga - Judas

For a track as eagerly awaited as Lady Gaga's new single, it was only fitting that it should sneak oh-so subtly onto iTunes - read for download - while a nation held their breath from a radio premiere. Gaga's most epic track to date, Judas centres around an absolutely immense euro-pop chorus that stands on a par with Bad Romance. It's strength is in channeling all the best bits of said song but re-injecting them into a massive industrial dance stomper.

When Gaga talked about the track being 'metal-techno' that's exactly what it sounds like. The beat is fucking insane. That really is the only way to describe it. And if it sounds this good on the radio, just imagine it in a club. WOW. It takes the already phenomenal power of Born This Way and multiplies it by a billion. You wouldn't think it was possible, but there Gaga goes, breaking the rules of pop yet again. With songs like this, she really does have the world in the palm of her hand - Judas representing the culmination of everything that is brilliant about her.

Whether it's the heartfelt refrains of 'I'm in love with Ju-u-u-das' or the random screams where it sounds like she's being electrocuted, there's an eerie and irresistible beauty to the song. How can something so harsh and relentless be beautiful? Gaga makes it work. With her, all logic goes out of the window - Judas is a current of pure ecstasy being laced straight through your speakers and into your ears. It's a track that captures every facet of human nature jam packed into four minutes of jaw-droppingly good pop. It goes without saying Gaga stands in an absolute league of her own at the moment.

Hearing this for the first time, you're fixed to the spot, utterly transfixed - the second time you hear it, you want to dance til you drop.

With Judas, Gaga leaves you breathless, reeling, blown out of any sense of the rational world - but My God does it feel amazing.

Judas is out to download on iTunes now.