The Max Martin track is a clear progression from her last lead single, So What, and the perfect single to sell a greatest hits album with.

While there are clear elements of Max Martin and Dr. Luke’s current sound from songs like Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, P!nk always manages to make these tracks sound like her own with her angry, controversial lyrics and her very distinctive vocals. It’s not trying to be anything other than a catchy pop song and it doesn’t need to be. P!nk has plenty of time for artistic moments with her album tracks and Raise Your Glass perfectly carries on P!nk’s incredible collection of singles.

One lyric that stands out on first listen is a well known phrase reversed in the middle 8:

So if you’re too school for cool

Raise Your Glass is released November 8th followed by Greatest Hits…So Far!!! on November 15th.

Shine A Light sounds like a more mature Star Girl and a more electronic The Heart Never Lies. It also contains the album title, Above The Noise, in the second verse.

The only small problem with Shine A Light is the production. The song sounds quite empty and seems like there should be a build up, like the long crescendo throughout The Heart Never Lies, but it never happens. It just plods along with no big moment. Taio Cruz’s fifteen seconds of a middle 8 also seems a bit unnecessary but by him featuring the song, hopefully it will attract new listeners and the song will perform better than Party Girl.

Shine A Light will be released on November 8th followed by the album, Above The Noise, on November 15th.

The problem is, while it seems like a brilliant way to increase The Saturdays’ status, the song Flo Rida is featuring on happens to be possibly the best song of their careers so far. From the minute the album dropped, Higher has been a huge fan favourite. It has elements of everything that makes a good Saturdays song since it’s produced by the same people who gave them their big hits Up and Ego. On first listen, a lot of people were disappointed about the heavy use of autotune on the studio version but the middle 8, despite the autotune, remained on the highlights of the song.

The new version of Higher, which now features Flo Rida, sees the middle 8 completely cut in favour of Flo Rida rapping. The rap actually sounds decent but it’s not as good as the original middle 8 it replaced. The ideal thing the producers could have done, would have been to keep both the original middle 8 and add Flo Rida’s rap, as the song is only three minutes and twenty six seconds long anyway.

Another problem with Flo Rida featuring on Higher is that he didn’t record the track at the same time as The Saturdays, and possibly not with the same producers, leading to his vocals sounding considerably higher in volume in comparison to the girls’ vocals. Listening to the track, I find myself lowering the volume when Flo Rida starts rapping, not because he sounds bad, but because his vocals are much louder. It just sounds like sloppy and rushed editing, and also sounds a bit like he rapped over the track while playing karaoke. However, Flo Rida’s intro, despite his cheesy name dropping of the girls, actually sounds good and fits in well with the lyrics of the song.

Flo Rida: What you doing Saturday girl?
Vanessa: I’m doing nothing, ’cause then at least I’m doing nothing wrong

The video for Higher premieres this weekend which looks like it could be their best video yet as seen in their reality TV series The Saturdays 24/7. It looks like they spent quite a lot on the video, leaving seemingly very little of the budget for the cover artwork (seen in the video below) which is a disaster.

Higher will be released November 1st through Fascination Records.

Promise This is very different to anything on her debut album, 3 Words. It’s more dance-pop and less r’n'b-lite. The only previous work by Cheryl that it could be compared to is the b-side, Boys, which shares similar production styles. It doesn’t sound much like anything else around right now but it sounds very fresh, yet current.

The track samples the well known French song Alouette. Cheryl metaphorically sings about plucking and spreading wings which is then used as a hook during the intro, post-chorus and outro of the song, but in French.

Alouette-ette-ette, alouette-ette-ette, alouette-ette-ette, déployer les ailes
Alouette-ette-ette, alouette-ette-ette, alouette-ette-ette, plumerai les ailes

Melodically, Cheryl’s vocal in the verses has a similarity to the verses of Rain On Me from her debut. The chorus is quite short like Fight For This Love’s chorus, but similarly the repetitive, French, post-chorus is the biggest hook in the song. Promise This, again will be a huge club hit for Cheryl as it’s quite uptempo, clocking in at 150bpm, faster than Fight For This Love’s 120bpm.

Promise This will be released on October 25th, following an X Factor performance and followed by her sophomore album, Messy Little Raindrops, on November 1st, through Fascination Records.

Like It’s Her Birthday is a progression from their electronic sound on 2007′s Good Morning Revival, sounding similar to songs like Keep Your Hands Off My Girl and Dance Floor Anthem, but sounding a lot more polished.

Like It’s Her Birthday will be released on August 24th and the album Cardiology will be released on October 26th through Capitol Records.

Teenage Dream still has a strong beat with an insanely catchy melody which California Gurls has, except it’s less fun but this isn’t a bad thing. It’s an end of the summer song which is perfect for the time of year it’s being released. Katy sings about how someone she fell in love with reminds her of being a teenager. Lyrically, it’s much more serious than California Gurls and the melody is very melancholic to support the lyrics. The lyrics also make a reference to California again in a subtle way. The tempo is almost the same as California Gurls which will make sure Teenage Dream gets played in clubs just as much as the latter.

Katy’s official Youtube channel uploaded a music and lyric video with images from the yet to be released video for Teenage Dream which you can view below:

Teenage Dream is out now in support of the upcoming album of the same name to be released August 22nd.

While Party Girl is a departure in sound for McFly, it still sounds like a McFly track somehow. This is probably because the vocals aren’t edited too much so they’re still quite distinctive, but Party Girl also somewhat sounds like a progression from their single Lies.

McFly also announced their second single from the, yet to be titled, new album would be the Taio Cruz track Shine A Light later in the year, along with the launch of their new Super City website and a thirty minute movie which will accompany Party Girl.

Party Girl will be released on September 6th through Island Records.

The video for Misery premiered recently too. It’s also a typical Maroon 5 video as lead vocalist, Adam Levine, has a love interest as usual. However, this time his love interest treats him badly by beating him, throwing him off buildings, causing him to get knocked down by a car and stabbing his friends while still continuing to display her love for him by kissing him at the same time. It’s quite a funny video while still remaining somewhat true to the lyrics of Misery.

Hands All Over is scheduled for release on September 21st with the following tracklisting:

01. How
02. Never Gonna Leave
03. Wasted Years
04. Last Chance
05. Don’t Know Much About That
06. Out of Goodbyes (featuring Lady Antebellum)
07. I Can’t Lie
08. Give a Little More
09. Misery
10. Stutter
11. Hands All Over
12. Stay Out Of My Life

As a lead single, Touch could be a slight risk. While it shows a clear progression in Natasha’s sound and builds on previous songs such as The One That Got Away and Not Givin’ Up, Touch isn’t a sure-fire hit. A guaranteed hit is something Natasha probably needs, especially in the UK since her previous effort, N.B., flopped but regardless she returned with something surprisingly original, interesting and a bit daring.

Touch opens with a hypnotic, synth-building verse featuring some of Natasha’s best signature storytelling lyrics which made songs such as These Words, Unwritten, We’re All Mad and Backyard so interesting and unique. The story in Touch is told quite cleverly, with the second verse explaining what led to the coffee-spilling incident which happens in the first verse. A lyric in the second verse which demonstrates Natasha’s clever storytelling is:

It seems that spilling coffee was no accident at all

After each verse, the song erupts into a melodic, dance-driven, feel-good chorus which instantly creates the atmosphere of a summer night’s party. If handled correctly, Touch could be a huge summer hit with such a chorus.

Overall, Touch is quite an impressive lead single for Natasha and hopefully it will aid her return to success in the UK after a disappointing sophomore stint.

[See post to listen to audio]

Touch, taken from the Natasha’s third studio album (second in the UK) and follow-up to 2008′s Pocketful of Sunshine (2007′s N.B. in the UK), has yet to be added to radio or scheduled for release internationally. The upcoming, yet to be titled album also has no tentative released date.

All The Lovers is a mid-tempo, electro-pop ballad and very coherent to Kylie’s sound. While the melody and production are both very good, All The Lovers just doesn’t sound like a lead single. Nice is the only way to describe the song. It sounds more like a third or fourth single from an album campaign because it’s not all the things a lead single should be. It’s not instantly grabbing, it’s not pushing any boundaries and it doesn’t get stuck in your head. Having listened to the song multiple times, if I was asked how the song goes, I would have no idea how to sing it.

The song sounds like it could have been released anywhere between 2005 and now. It’s not a fresh sound but it’s more powerful than most mid-tempo ballads. I wouldn’t describe All The Lovers as anthemic, but it does sound very strong and melancholic. The production, by Kish Mauve, is very polished but it’s almost more crucial to the song than the melody or the vocal.

Lyrically, All The Lovers is nothing new. The most interesting piece of writing is probably in the chorus where Kylie metaphorically talks about her ex-lovers as if they’ve passed away. Elsewhere in the song, she generically talks about dancing and being with the person she loves.

For the middle-eight, the track gets completely stripped back to just Kylie’s vocal and a piano before launching back into quite a hypnotic instrumental, the only experimental and refreshing part of the song, before reaching the final chorus.

All The Lovers is a nice song but that’s about all there is to it. It would make a very strong album track but as a lead single, it doesn’t make much sense. It should have been left to become one of those songs like Speakerphone, a standout album track which the fans can appreciate but nothing more.

Kylie releases All The Lovers on June 28th followed by her eleventh studio album Aphrodite on July 2nd.