New BIG SINGLE Roundup

It's rather typical really.

I'm without the Internet for a month and a half and in that time, half a dozen new songs drop, including some seriously anticipated releases.

Rihanna - 'Diamonds'

This must have been the most anticipated song of the last few years. Rihanna's big comeback. It had been a whole THREE WEEKS since the last single from 'Talk that Talk' and people were getting seriously impatiant. She'd left it too long, they said. The pop scene has moved on and left her behind. She's a hasbeen.

Of course I am joking, and the Rihanna album conveyer belt jokes are well worn by now. As much as she's becoming a parody of herself these days, she does continue to bang out the hits at an alarming rate. This Sia-penned track is a move in a different direction for RihRih, more midtempo than her previous lead singles and a welcome change. Her last few big hits have proved to be serious trendsetters, so let's hope this might be a signal that the winds of pop are about to change.

Christina Aguilera - 'Love Your Body'

Now this actually WAS anticipated. After the shameful bomb of her last album 'Bionic' (well deserved in my opinion, that album was a dud and she can do SO MUCH BETTER) Christina is back with the first single from her album 'Lotus'. Awful title. It's a Max Martin track which is typically a ticket to $ucce$$ these days, and while this is definitely very pop, very radio friendly and very singalong, it's a little more restrained on the dance muzak than most big smashes in the charts these days. No reinventing the wheel, just a pure pop song that really works. She sounds great, the video is fun and hopefully the album shapes up to more of the same. Less pretension, fewer sloppy tacked on 'themes' and just well crafted songs with good melody.

Ke$ha - Die Young

Some nice second album development here from Ke-dollar sign-ha. The synths are still here, talk-singing present and accounted for and the slightly generic anthemic chorus box is CHECKED. But hold on. There's a new vibe sitting in there. Dare I say - a little Fun.esque? Not the hippy folky comeback that was suggested, but a great way to move forward while securing a big hit to lead the album and not alienate your previous fans. Well played.