Because no album release is complete without some illegitimate leaks along the way, a version of Britney Spears' opening Britney Jean track "Alien" has surfaced online.
From the producer's mouth (Twitter), here are the facts.
It's the wrong version of 'Alien' that's out there. Right song, but had wrong chorus notes, (now fixed) on THE version
— William Orbit (@WilliamOrbit) November 18, 2013
You can listen to the leaked version below, or just be patient and wait for the real deal December 3rd!
Here at Popdust, we have a certain number of codes we think pop stars should live their lives by. Perhaps the most important is this: If you can't beat the leakers, join them.
Lady Gaga learned that lesson this weekend, when leakers somehow got ahold of 12 seconds of her long-awaited comeback single, "Applause." (Related: How do hackers only get 12 seconds of a song?) Rather than suffer through additional indignities, Gaga did the classy thing: Leak the song herself, to iHeartRadio!
The full song is better than the 12-second snippet, in the way that most songs are improved by adding the final 94% of them. Other than that, the song defies description. The hook is great. The bridge is seconds away from turning into "La Vie Boheme." The verses name-drop Jeff Koons, we think? Basically, we're happy that it's not whatever "Aura" was. Listen to "Applause" below:
It's the summer of leaks, apparently: Just days after Katy Perry's "Roar" and Lady Gaga's "Applause" both made their way online ahead of schedule (albeit only in snippet form in Gaga's case), the Pop Gods have given us 90 seconds of a brand-new One Direction song, thought to appear on their forthcoming untitled third album.
Apparently titled, "Just Can't Let Her Go," the new song features something of a new sound for the 1D lads; it's built around a slinky flute hook! They're not calling up the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka just yet, but it does seem like, two years into their career, One Direction is tinkering with the formula a bit.
Listen to the "Just Can't Let Her Go" fragment below:
What do we expect from a Lady Gaga song? Powerful hooks? Weird accents? Bizarre melanges of pop music history?
"Aura," the first track leaked from Gaga's upcoming ARTPOP has all this, and more. And yet, it never comes quite together. We've got creepy Lana Del Rey cooing, some weird theatrical laughter and the return of Gaga's British accent, and some sort of weird robot voice. Shockingly, none of that gels into a cohesive whole. There is room for optimism, though: The hook, which finds Gaga booming "Do you want to see the girl behind the aura?" is as big as anything on The Fame Monster.
We don't want to turn the rest of the year into a Katy vs. Gaga battle (though their release dates might force that narrative upon us) but it's interesting to note that while Katy can't bury her past self soon enough, Gaga seems to be chasing her muse no matter where it takes her.
Still, probably good to remember that this is just a demo. Listen to the "Born This Way" demo to see how much these things can change in the studio.
As you may have heard, Kanye West's Yeezus leaked today. Why the title? Well, as Kanye told the audience at his listening party, "West was my slave name, Yeezus is my god name." This raises the question: What would Kanye West look like as Jesus? Let's take a look:
Which Jesus suits Kanye the best?
"Ladies, y'all wanna do it again?" asks Kelly Rowland at the song's start. May the answer to this question always be "A THOUSAND TIMES YES!"
It may not be a "Destiny's Child track," but that doesn't mean we can't pretend it is. "You've Changed" is Rowland, Beyonce, and Michelle Williams' first collaboration since January, and we're thrilled to report it's a great deal better. Although it truly is Rowland's song—and she insists as much—it sounds like the trio is picking up exactly where they left off in 2006. The mid-tempo, soulful, empowerment jam is reminiscent of any solid mid-2000s D.C. ringer. This is a good thing.
Give it a listen!
