Linkin Park unveil Burn It Down cover art!

It's the first single from the new Linkin Park album. It's called Burn It Down. The cover art features a burning man. All we know right now is that we can't wait to hear the song. Bring. It. On.

The Wanted - Chasing The Sun

They've done it again. The Wanted have come up trumps once more, delivering another lad-anthem dance stomper every bit as excellent as Glad You Came - fitting then that new single Chasing The Sun is set to become its follow-up over in the States. We could go into an essay-length discussion of how brilliant it is that the group are doing well in the US, but suffice to say, Chasing The Sun feels like the sound of a band on top of the world - riding high on another classic chanty Wanted riff and a pumping club bassline. There's a sort of smooth, sultry glide to Chasing The Sun that shoots it into new levels of the whole futuro-synth work-out vibe the band really cornered with their second album and frankly we just love the song. It's also, we hear, the song that Example originally wrote for Kylie - and it sounds like it - which makes it all the more amazing. It's essentially, crucially instant in a way The Wanted have always done with such ease, and if we're this excited about it, we're just trying to get our heads around how excited all those American girls must be. Quite a lot, we imagine.

The Saturdays - 30 Days

Anyone that knows us will know that we adore the Saturdays. As such, we've been on the edge of our seat over the last couple of months eager for any miniscule snippet of info about their new single. And now, we've got a first tantalising glimpse of something!

According to website Chokolate TV (one of their dancers is featured in the video for the song), the new Saturdays single is called 30 Days! Throwing some ideas out there, we imagine there'll be lots of time-based metaphors going on in the song, and any track that renders part of its title numerically usually wins points with us (re. Britney's '3').

Some more rumours doing the rounds: Apparently the track's full sobriquet is 30 Days (To Love), which sounds very much like the type of thing you'd expect in a big Saturdays chorus. The track is also apparently pencilled in for a 29th April release date, and the fact the video has dancers seems to suggest it'll be rather dancey, which is good with us.

Or maybe it's self-referential and 30 Days is in fact 30 Satur-Days, and the five girls will get multiplied by six via CGI in the video, resulting in, yes, thirty actual Saturday girls!

Perhaps this is all going to amazingly postmodern too and it'll be 30 Days until we get to hear the track - but personally we hope it's earlier!

[Official Video] Selena Gomez - Hit The Lights

If there's one star more than any other that restores my faith in the next generation of pop acts, it's Disney darling Selena Gomez.

Already she's delivered some absolute belters in the form of Naturally and Love You Like A Love Song, but not content to rest on her laurels, she returns to the fun, flirty dance-pop formula again for new single Hit The Lights.

Hit The Lights is Selena showing her true popstar colours - accompanied by its care-free, light-hearted video of teens goofing about in a field, it packs all the fun-factor you'd expect from the former star of Wizards of Waverly Place.

But what's more, it doesn't steal from so many of the already tired club trends and instead makes a simple but effective go at pumping out a bit of well-rounded radio-friendly fodder. It also features one of the my favorite 'in the club' lyrics of the year: 'from the floor to the rafters / people raise your glasses' - Oh Selena.

Piano ballad-into all-out dance stompers seem to be something of a trend at the moment and while Hit The Lights certainly pushes no boundaries, it feels so comfortable in its own skin - something that can definitely can be attributed to Selena's natural charm and professionalism - that it stands as a genuine statement of intent. Selena is here to stay. And to be honest, anyone who loves Cheryl Cole as much as she does has my respect.

Oh, and those shades she's rocking in the video are totally cool.

Watch the video for Hit The Lights HERE.

Wretch 32 - Forgiveness (feat. Etta Bond)

These days, it's something of a mandatory rule that every hip London rapper has to have a 'rock' single - or rather, a Written In The Stars style epic-athon. Tinie kicked it all off, Professor Green followed with his brilliant Read All About It, now it's Wretch 32's turn.

Don't Go left me feeling a little underwhelmed after the undeniable charms of Unorthodox, which remains one of my favourite tracks of the year - it's nice then to see Wretch back on top form with Forgiveness.

Expect big, smashing guitar riffs, a great guest vocal from Etta Bond and an undercurrent of synths and high-pinched piano tinkling. There's both energy and swag here in equal measures, a feel of Wretch coiled like a wild tiger, ready to pounce. The rapper is at his best with kinetic-heavy tracks like this and Forgiveness is as good a reason as any to go buy Wretch's album if you haven't already.

Forgiveness is released on the 12th December.

Pixie Lott - What Do You Take Me For (feat. Pusha T)

As I discussed in a previous blog entry, when Pixie Lott wants to be really good, she can be so good. But unfortunately, her new single What Do You Take Me For is not one of those moments.

The general feeling is that it's the sound of a popstar running out of steam before they've even really got going - Pixie's debut album was littered with genuine pop gems, but this new single does not sound like the kind of thing she should be pushing as the lead-in single to front a new album.

In this hyper competitive age, it's just not good enough. Pixie casts off the dancing shoes she so eagerly donned on All About Tonight and takes a turn down the R&B route, even including that all time favourite gimmick; the featured rapper. In this instance, Pusha T (he featured on Kanye West's latest album).

What Do You Take Me For sounds dated, like something off Natasha Bedingfield's first album. That might have been all very well and good in 2005, but hearing Pixie's track on the radio now, it feels slow, ungainly.

When I first heard All About Tonight, I was equally unimpressed - although the track did grow on me eventually, albeit only when I heard the gorgeous acoustic version. Maybe that'll be the trick here too?

What Do You Take Me For is released on the 6th November. Pixie's new album Young Foolish Happy can be pre-ordered here.

Alexis Jordan - Laying Around With You

Of all the singles Alexis Jordan could have released from her album, Laying Around With You is perhaps the most baffling.

Coming from the same girl who gave us such storming dance-pop treats as Good Girl and Happiness, the simple mid-tempo acoustic strum of Laying Around seems remarkably reserved. But then again, I suppose it shows a different side to her.

The odds of the best track on the album - High Road - getting a single release look pretty distant now. And as Autumn and then Winter start to creep in, the cheery vibes of Laying Around sound a little out of place now, a throwback to the warm sunny rays and long nights of summer.

Co-written by Ne-Yo, his stamp is all over the track - there's more than a definite hint of his classic Hate That I Love You here, the track that of course inspired this brilliant dance remake.

Can we get K-Klass on the case with Alexis too please?

Laying Around With You is available to download here.

Nicola Roberts - Lucky Day / Rhythm Is A Dancer [Mash-Up]

What could be even better than Nicola Roberts' stunning dream-pop single Lucky Day? How about a remixed, mash-up version courtesy of production supremos Thriller Jill (let's not forget they delivered that jaw-droppingly amazing version of Girls Aloud's Love Is The Key).

When it comes to a good mash-up, there's certain tracks you just can't go wrong with, and one of those is Snap!'s 90s classic Rhythm Is A Dancer. Even now, nearly two decades after its original release, if the track drops on a dancefloor, people will go absolutely mental for it. Guaranteed.

So, paired up with Nicola's Lucky Day, we have a new, pumped up version of the track - all bonkers 90s synths and the kind of perfect chorus us long-time Nicola fans always dreamed of her conjuring up.

Pop lovers, get your dancing shoes on - this is a good one.

Listen to the Lucky Day / Rhythm Is A Dancer mash-up HERE.

Starlings - Dark Arts

Carrying with it all the mystique and sleek glamour of some shadowy spy movie romance, Starlings' new single Dark Arts is a bewildering medley of sheer synth joy.

Like Duran Duran colliding head-long with New Order via a good chunk of Inner City's Good Life, the latest track from Sheffield's brightest upcoming group sees them putting on their dancing shoes.

It's a re-envisioning of classic Hacienda trippy-ness and three singles in, Starlings are still displaying a charmed ear for perfect pop melodies and lush synth backdrops.

There's a kind of lusty fire to lines like 'poison arrow through my heart' that drives Dark Arts with unnerving accuracy and precision - with every single Starlings have grown in confidence.

The accompanying cover art is equally glossy; all firey oranges and rich purples that seem born of the same enchanting power that burns at the heart of the song.

With NME, Q and the Guardian all lining up to hail Starlings as ones to watch this year, the hype is building fast. One thing's for sure, when it comes to Dark Arts, Starlings have us well and truly bewitched.

Marina And The Diamonds - Radioactive

When Marina Diamandis released her 2010 record The Family Jewels in 2010, she was riding the wave awash with countless female contemporaries. Fast-forward to 2011 and you can't move for a female singer-songwriter puveying their own brand of catchy pop hits.

The challenge then, is for Marina to prove she deserves her place amongst this premier league of songstresses. And with one listen to new single Radioactive, a first-class shot of sparkly dance-pop, it's plain to see she does.

Tapping into the Euro-Dance influences that seem to have seeped into the consciousness of so many fellow hitmakers this year (J-Lo, The Wanted etc.), the Marina that surfaces on Radioactive is a very different one than the quirky individual of I Am Not A Robot.

Her voice remains as hauntingly ethereal as ever, but now it posesses a drive, a passion, a force that comes from being strapped to a dizzyingly good synth-heavy beat.

'My heart is nuclear, love is all I feel' she sings in the track's chorus as she 'heads for a meltdown' - it's that same brand of apocalyptic, end of the world pop that mega-star Rihanna has sent her career to stratospheric heights with. Tying the two singers together - production whizzes Stargate. These guys are everywhere at the moment, and going by Radioactive, their creativity is far from spent.

Marina herself tells of how Radioactive was inspired by New York's nightlife, the 'fizzing white energy' of the dancefloor - indeed, everything about the song and what it promises is more adventurous and wide-reaching than her previous material.

In her new transatlantic incarnation, Marina has hit upon a goldmine of pop magic - and in doing so, quite possibly nabbed her first UK Number One.

Radioactive is released on the 3rd October.

Sunday Girl - Human Love

Ever since I interviewed Sunday Girl at the tail end of last year, I've been a massive fan of her own unique brand of electro-pop. She's very much the complete package; a glossy, impossibly cool star for the new decade. Oh, and her songs are brilliant too - just take a listen to new single Human Love.

It's a little New Order (when at their most contemplative - see 1993's wonderful Ruined In A Day), more so a trippy, blissed out record reminiscent, like her contemporary Yasmin, of the very best of 90s dance-pop.

Those sombre Bittersweet Symphony strings, elevating up into a classic, utterly anthemic Sunday Girl chorus, Human Love is every bit the amazing follow up to Stop Hey pop lovers could have wished for.

It's half delicate English beauty, half hyper-styled futuristic synth-epic - the image of Sunday Girl herself captured in an instance.

If you haven't been captivated by her model looks and numerous style features across the media, you will be soon. And going by the quality of songs like Human Love, you're going to want to keep an eye on Sunday Girl.

(There's also a brilliant little acoustic version of the track here...)

Listen to The Saturdays All Fired Up & Ladykiller previews

Don't you just love it when Amazon/iTunes post those 30 seconds of preview of new songs ages before they're released? What this means is that we get to hear The Saturdays' frankly amazing new single All Fired Up, which gives its name to their upcoming winter tour.

Following in the more dancey tradition of Notorious, but stepping the drama and pace up another few notches, All Fired Up is a relentless onslaught of trance madness and My God does it sound good.

The lightning-quick repition of the chorus 'All Fired Up! I feel alive!' is hyper-catchy, channelling the song's energy and power on a non-stop track straight to your heart, delivering with it a massive shot of adrenaline. It's like the first time you ever drink Red Bull - but a hundred times better than that.

If this doesn't get you up on your feet dancing like it's your last night on Earth then I don't know what will. What's more, the track was written by Space Cowboy (he's done stuff for Lady Gaga!), Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper (Xenomania - need no introduction!) and MNEK.

Meanwhile, Ladykiller looks set to continue the tradition of absolutely brilliant Sats b-sides. Their last effort Not That Kinda Girl stands as one of their best to date, so I have high hopes for the full length version of Ladykiller when it comes out.

Indeed, by this point in the Saturdays career you could quite easily put together a compilation of all their b-sides and it'd still be better than a good deal of other pop albums out there.

All Fired Up is released on the 2nd September.

Soundgirl - Hero

Soundgirl are nothing if not versatile - their free download taster track I'm The Fool was a bit of urban-pop brilliance, a fitting testament to a group that in many ways present the future of legendary hitmakers Xenomania (Miranda Cooper is the brains behind the Soundgirl tracks).

Follow-up Don't Know Why, while just missing out on the Top 40, was just as catchy and irresistible as its predecessor - and with the cool credibility to bag a playlist spot on the likes of 1 Xtra.

Between the two tracks, Soundgirl cemented themselves as an exciting, feisty new force in the world of pop, and next single Hero helps show yet another side to them. Perhaps the most 'traditional' track they've released to date, it's a classy slice of mid-tempo R&B full of lines like 'don't need no hero... don't need no superman to call on' - basically, they're Independent Ladies and don't need a man, etc.

Sound-wise, the track is an eclectic mix, coming on as if the synths are by Erasure and the vocals courtesy of Girlfriend-era Avril Lavigne. Yes, those Soundgirl raps are back, and they sound great - if the band can claim anything as their individual quirk, it's that undeniable Britishness and boy do the raps help bring that to the fore.

Soundgirl have the tunes, there's no doubt about that - surely it can only be a matter of time until the public cottons on to how good they are?

Hero is released on the 12th September, with the band's debut album Something To Dream About following a week later on the 19th.

Twenty Twenty - Move It

Last week we told you about Twenty Twenty's track Get Down, part of the soundtrack to the Horrid Henry movie - however, today sees the lads announcing the release of an upcoming completely-new track.

Entitled Move It, the track doesn't feature on the band's album Small Talk and is the product of a hectic schedule of writing and recording the group have been engaged in since the release of the album.

Get Down, Move It... Sure sounds like Twenty Twenty like keeping active. We can't wait to hear the track!

Move It is released on the 22nd August.

Wonderland - Nothing Moves Me Anymore

To us long-time Wonderland fans, Nothing Moves Me Anymore is like an old friend. The band initially offered the track as a free download from their website, back in the infancy of their album campaign, before they'd even released their first single.

Later, the track cropped up on their taster EP in the form of an acoustic version (all this back when the track was still caled just Nothing Moves Me).

And now, announced as the third official single from the band's debut album, we see them breathing new life into it, unveiling it to a whole host of new potential fans. And those fans are clearly out there - while the band's singles may not have set the charts alight, their album made a very respactable No. 8 in the Album Charts.

Now, the phrase 'Oh, they're an album-artist' has always been bandied about with a kind of disdain, but in reality, it's nothing to be sniffed at. The fact is, some acts simply sell better with their albums than they do with their singles - and Wonderland are one such act.

Is it down to their sound? Or down to their audience? Truth be told, it's a combination of the both, and Nothing Moves Me Anymore is exactly the kind of track that caters to that audience.

Lush, sprawling pop-rock ballad, it has that same gleam of maturity that for me made the girls' album what it was. The track breathes with a kind of world-weary sigh that tells of someone tired of heartbreak and being let down time and time again; 'I've never felt this empty before' they sing on the chorus, telling of hearts 'as cold as stone.'

It's a bleak picture, but one that the Wonderland girls paint with such shimmering beauty. That's their charm, the emotion of their voices coming good in injecting a track like this with such effervescence.

In the past few weeks since the band's album came out, I've seen more and more people clocking on to what exactly Wonderland are about, and if anything, Nothing Moves Me Anymore is the track to help achieve that. A real slow-burning grower if ever there was one, it makes sure to pay its dividends when it does eventually click.

Nothing Moves Me Anymore is released on the 14th August.

Nadine Coyle - Sweetest High

A new single for a new, American album campaign - and with it, a new sound... of sorts. A hefty slice of Eurodance wouldn't perhaps be the first port of call for everyone looking to break into the States, but then again, the dance market has exploded over there in recent years - just look at what the likes of J Lo and Chris Brown are doing.

Nadine's powerhouse vocals remain largely unchanged from her Insatiable album, though perhaps this time round there's more of a raw, 'live-ness' to them. Nadine sounds less confined, more like she's actually having fun singing the track. And on a song called Sweetest High, you imagine fun would be central to that experience.

Hectic, bouncy, packing an irresistible synth riff; Sweetest High spills from the definition of summer anthem. All in all, it sounds like an intriguing move for her and we wait with baited breath to hear more from Nadine 2.0...

Nadine Coyle - Sweetest High by FreedomDevelopment

Parade - Just A Boy

In this digital age of On Air/On Sale, b-sides are becoming something of an endangered species - so anyone who puts out real, quality tracks to back their latest chart smash are to be celebrated. Step in Parade, who's latest single Perfume comes accompanied by new track Just A Boy.

Going by the clip on YouTube, it sounds fantastic - big, epic echoey beats reminiscent of Beyonce (the verses are very Halo) and a lovely R&B flavour that sits well beside Perfume itself.

There's a delightful little chorus hook too of "I'm trying to let go, let go / I can't seem to get my heart to say no, say no", which we guarantee will be stuck in your head.

Parade are heading around the country this coming week to help promote Perfume with a series of CD signings - so we suggest you go along, buy the single, see the lovely girls themselves, getting yourself two brilliant tracks into the bargain! You can't say much fairer than that!

Nadine Coyle - Nadine 2.0 (What we know so far...)

Just when you least expect it, just what you expected least... Today is Nadine Coyle's birthday, and while us Girls Aloud fans were all getting excited over the fact Nicola and Nadine had tweeted each-other for the first time, some other very exciting news was getting ready to make an appearance.

Yes, that's right - Nadine Coyle is releasing a second album. Just a year after Insatiable, her new record Nadine 2.0 is already in the works (we think that's what it's going to be called anyway, going by the noir-styled teaser website...).

With that futuristic font, black & white photo of the lovely Miss Coyle and currently a countdown till we get to hopefully hear one of the new tracks - entitled Sweetest High - we literally cannot wait.

Written and produced with New York DJ's Vito Fun and Damian Major, judging by the date on Nadine's website - it looks like the track could even be released as early as the 22nd of June.

Guillemots - I Must Be A Lover

After Fyfe Dangerfield's massive solo success with Fly Yellow Moon, it's fair to say there's a certain degree of pressure on the Guillemots to come back with something really spectacular.

New single I Must Be A Lover is a move away from the hectic electro sounds of the band's previous album, and a return to the cheery, boroque pop of early records like Trains To Brazil as well as working in many of the elements that made Dangerfield's solo LP such a gem.

Yes, there are still synths here, but now only the lightest, most delicate of touches. There's a real percussive feel to the track too, aided by the strummed guitar and clack-clack, almost ramshackle beat. I Must Be A Lover feels distinctly handbuilt, like a piece of real artistry.

Dangerfield's Fly Yellow Moon gave him the freedom to fully unlock that magical, enchanting sound the Guillemots had always been on the edge of. And now, returning to the band and bringing his considerable songwriting and vocal talents with him, there is a sense that the group is now far more comfortable in its own skin.

In the video we see flickering, mystical light tracing its way over the band members, conjuring up that ethereal feel the Guillemots have always had such a way with. But equally, I Must Be A Lover sees them now at their most solid and confident to date.

I Must Be A Lover is released on the 3rd July.

Platnum - Fire In My Eyes

Take yourselves on a trip back to 2008, and recall that impossibly catchy clubland smash What's It Gonna Be by H 'Two' O. Serving up the vocal duties on said track were Manchester trio Platnum, and they're back - this time on their own - with new single Fire In My Eyes.

From the outset, it's clear the track is very conscious of what's going on in both the dance and urban scenes right now, presenting a clear evolution from the sound they fronted up three years ago.

There's all the standard fizzy bursts of synths and clubby beats you'd expect from a track like this as well as a rather entertaining vocal refrain of 'we won't give two fucks'.

The track features TJ Lyricz and is the first single to be taken from their forthcoming It's A Platnum Ting mixtape. With a heap of big-name producers lined up for their album and the group fresh from supporting Roll Deep on tour, Fire In My Eyes could very well recreate that magic What's It Gonna Be success.

Fire In My Eyes is released on the 20th June.