Maroon 5 music video for new single Misery: watch it now

The good folks at MTV have invited us to share with you the brand new music video for the new Maroon 5 single “Misery” from their forthcoming album Hands All Over. Of the video shoot, Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine said, ““It was great to be back on set with the guys again. Everyone in the band really dug the concept and it was fun working with director Joseph Kahn. I am looking forward to our fans getting to check it out!”

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(apologies to iPad and iPhone users, it’s in Flash/Shockwave format)

Maroon 5 new single “Misery” is upbeat, funky and accessible

Maroon 5 have just sent over their lead single “Misery” from their forthcoming album Hands All Over, and despite its title and equally downtrodden lyrics, the song is an upbeat funky number – and based on a few listens, it might be the most widely accessible song the band has released yet. Yes, all the recognizable Maroon 5 elements are there: Adam Levine’s smooth high pitched vocals parceled over the measures, confessional midsection, exposed guitar lines at just the right time. Nevermind that the key lyric of the song is I am in misery, there ain’t nobody who can comfort me; Levine sings it with such seeming joy, and the music behind it is so hoppy, that you find yourself paradoxically singing “I am in misery” along with him, just as joyfully as he is. And unlike some of the weightier funk on Maroon 5′s previous album, “Misery” is a song that you’ll have trouble remaining still in your chair while listening to.

Unfortunately the rest of Maroon 5′s Hands All Over won’t be released until September 21st – three months from today – but “Misery” just set the bar high for the rest of the new album.

OneRepublic premieres music video for new single Secrets

OneRepublic have released the music video for Secrets, the second official single from their sophomore album Waking Up. The video for the string-heavy ballad, directed by Chris Sims, features the band performing the song in an abandoned restaurant.

and has been posted to YouTube ahead of OneRepublic’s Friday morning performance on the Today Show’s summer concert series. The band will then be performing on Saturday with Bon Jovi at New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.

OneRepublic appeared on the cover of Beatweek Magazine in November for a cover story interview in which lead singer Ryan Tedder explained the meaning of the lyrics to the song Secrets, among other aspects of the Waking Up album.

Bret Michaels sends “Wasted Time” to iTunes

Fresh out of the hospital, singer Bret Michaels is wasting no time – pardon the pun – when it comes to picking up where he’d left off. This week sees the release of his new single “Wasted Time” in iTunes ahead of his forthcoming album release entitled Custom Built. The new single, an upbeat ballad, which had previously been featured in snippet form on the rocker’s official website while he was still in the hospital, is currently on the top 100 rock singles chart in iTunes. Despite the seeming relevance of the song’s lyrics to the life-threatening ordeal that Micheals just went through, the song was in fact written and recorded before his health issues began.

Michaels had been starring in reality television show Celebrity Apprentice prior to his medical problems; still no word on whether he’ll return to the show in any capacity, nor is there an official release date yet for Custom Built.

review: “Plundered My Soul” by The Rolling Stones

Can you believe it… It’s almost as if Mick Jagger somehow knew nearly forty years ago that he’d someday be teasing us with that opening line to the “new” Rolling Stones song entitled “Plundered My Soul” which was actually recorded back during the Exile on Main Street sessions but never has seen the light of day until now. Released as an extremely limited thousand-copy run this week as part of Record Store Day, the song will actually serve as the lead single for Exile’s re-release on May 18th. Universal sent over an advance of the song, and after having spent some time with it, I can confirm that it definitely sounds like it was recorded in 1972 – that’s not a bad thing, mind you – and I’m also left to wonder how the band (and the label) managed to go this many years without finding a way to release it, seeing as how it’s a pretty darn good song.

It’s one of those plodding mid-tempo Stones songs with the meandering guitars in which Jagger’s vocals have a pliable relationship with the downbeat, and he sounds perfectly okay with the fact that he’s been taken by the lady who serves as the recipient of his lines even as he sings “I thought you needed my lovin’ but it’s my heart that you stole… I thought you wanted my money… but you plundered my soul.”

It’s not necessarily a vital song, and may not carve out a place in Rolling Stones history for any bigger reason than the novelty of having spent so many decades sitting in the vault before being sent to radio – and hey, it’s probably the best “new” Rolling Stones single in at least fifteen years.

I know, you don’t want to have to wait another month to hear the song – but if you’ve already waited four decades…