New Pop Roundup

Rihanna – Bitch Better Have My Money

Bitch better get a new songwriter.

No really. Is this shoddy ‘Unapologetic’ bonus track demo actually meant to be a single?

2/5

Listen: Bitch Better Have My Money is available now.

(sorry there's no official video yet)

Passion Pit – Lifted Up (1985)

The video to this new Passion Pit track sees lead singer Michael Angelakos alone on the dance floor surrounded by dizzying euphoria. Besides that this is typical Passion Pit – jangling synths, falsetto vocals and happy-sad lyrics. What’s not to love?

4/5

Listen: Lifted Up (1985) will feature on new album 'Kindred' due on 20th April.

Everything Everything – Distant Past

Is guitar music really dying?

Why are indie bands ramping up the electro influences?

Does anyone care when the chorus to this new track is so rave-tastic, even with the typically weird and wonderful verse style?

And how are their eyes SO blue?

4/5

Listen: Distant Past is available now.

FKA Twigs – Glass and Patron

Having seen Twigs live at the Roundhouse a couple of weeks back, I can confirm that not only can she throw down some shapes, she can vogue along with the best queens. Now she’s showcasing her abilities on the catwalk in this new visually arresting video that features her giving birth, a lot of chiffon, and death drops. Just wait until the beat kicks in.

4/5

Listen: Glass and Patron is released as part of the YouTube Music Awards.

Muse – Dead Inside

Muse have released a couple of new tracks recently, of which Dead Inside is undoubtedly the best. It’s somewhere between the heavy screeching of their early work and the more pop-orientated experiments of their last album and stomps like all the best rock tracks do, proving there’s plenty of life left in the band.

4/5

Listen: Dead Inside will feature on forthcoming album 'Drones' released on 8th June.

Brandon Flowers – Can’t Deny My Love

If there’s one thing music lovers can’t deny, it’s that The Killers never lived up to their brilliant debut album and lead singer Brandon Flowers’ solo material fared even worse. So it comes as a welcome surprise that this latest solo track is a great kitchen-sink jam: 80s production, anthemic melodies, moody atmospherics, incendiary guitars, funky rhythms, Latin percussion, piano solos, gospel choir backing, and a dramatic structure full of peaks and troughs. This is everything The Killers could, and should, have been.

4/5

Listen: Can't Deny My Love will feature on forthcoming album 'The Desired Effect' due 18th May.

Mumford & Sons – Believe

Marcus Mumford and his brethren are solely responsible for bringing the banjo to popular appeal. It’s perhaps a bizarre choice, then, to drop the instrument in favour of some synths, effectively turning them into a Coldplay covers band and sucking all joy from their sound in the process.

3/5

Listen: Believe will feature on forthcoming album 'Wilder Minds' released 4th May.

Major Lazer & DJ Snake – Lean On (feat. MØ)

Denmark’s MØ is probably the coolest Scandinavian artist around at the moment. Lending her vocals to the clipped production of Major Lazer for this lead single from their upcoming album is something of a no-brainer. This is the coolest track you’re likely to hear for a while, ensuring MØ stays high on the indie-pop darling list. That is, until Grimes releases some new music…

4/5

Listen: Lean On will feature on forthcoming album 'Peace Is The Mission' released in June.

Grimes – REALiTi

Speaking of which, we end this roundup with a new but old track from Grimes herself. It might be a standalone track from an album that wasn’t meant to be, but it’s a brilliant track all the same.

4/5

Listen: REALiTi is available now.