The world might be gripped by a pandemic, but that has not stopped pop stars Billie Eilish and Katy Perry from crooning about optimism in their latest songs. Their new releases are among 10 recent works in pop, hip-hop, rock, electronic and alternative music.
1 ALTERNATIVE POP
MY FUTURE
Billie Eilish
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/2E6nXnt
The world's biggest teenage pop star is back with a new song, My Future. Billie Eilish wrote the upbeat tune, which has an anime-inspired music video, with her brother and closest collaborator Finneas, while they were under quarantine.
In an e-mail to fans, the 18-year-old says: "It's a song that's really, really personal and special to me. When we wrote this song, it was exactly where my head was at - hopeful, excited and a crazy amount of self-reflection and self-growth. But recently, it has also taken on a lot of new meaning in the context of what's happening in the world now."
Finneas adds in an Instagram post that he cherished the rainy days spent writing the song with his sister. "It's been a scary year for so many reasons, but I choose to be optimistic and so many of you make me feel so inspired about the future."
2 POP
SMILE
Katy Perry
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/2EaVwoa
Katy Perry clowns around in her music video for Smile, the title track from her upcoming sixth album.
"I wrote this song when I was coming through one of the darkest periods of my life," she says of the upbeat tune in a press release. "When I listen to it now, it's a great reminder that I made it through. It's three minutes of energising hopefulness."
The pop star is expecting her first child with her fiance, British actor Orlando Bloom.
3 CHILLWAVE/SYNTHPOP
PURPLE NOON
Washed Out
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/3kQ0NCd
Washed Out - the stage name of American singer, songwriter and producer Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr - is back with his fourth album, which comprises songs of love, loss and passion. With music inspired by the Mediterranean coastline, the album's title is taken from 1960 French-Italian crime film Purple Noon.
4 HIP-HOP
LAUGH NOW CRY LATER
Drake featuring Lil Durk
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/3h9bNbI
Laugh Now Cry Later, which has a sports-inspired music video, is the lead single of Canadian rap star Drake's upcoming sixth album, Certified Lover Boy. It is also the Grammy winner's first collaboration with American rapper Lil Durk.
The music video, shot at sports giant Nike's headquarters in Oregon, features cameos by American sports stars such as football players Odell Beckham Jr and Marshawn Lynch, and basketball player Kevin Durant.
5 AMERICANA/FOLK/INDIE POP
Old Flowers
Courtney Marie Andrews
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/2YbszQ5
American singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews wrote the songs in her seventh album, Old Flowers, after the end of a nine-year relationship.
"Old Flowers is about heartbreak," she says of the songs, which she composed in cities such as Lisbon, Nashville and London.
"This album is about loving and caring for the person you know you can't be with. It's about being afraid to be vulnerable after you've been hurt. It's about a woman who is alone but is okay with that, if it means truth."
6 POST-PUNK
ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY
Protomartyr
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/349chuU
The songs in Ultimate Success Today, the fifth album by American post-punk band Protomartyr, were written last year, but the dark, apocalyptic lyrics seem to portend many events that marked this year - cities wracked by violence, illness and mortality.
Singer Joe Casey says he wrote the songs after coming down with an unspecified disease. "Was that sick feeling colouring how I felt about the state of the world or was it the other way around?" he wonders in a press statement.
7 ELECTRONIC/EXPERIMENTAL/R&B
ALL THE TIME
Jessy Lanza
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/3167yrT
The songs on Canadian electronic musician Jessy Lanza's third album, written last year, deal with anger and cynicism - themes she says are very relevant today.
"Anger is a familiar and safe feeling for me," she says. "The album became a conversation with myself about why that is.
"Like a lot of people, I'm still struggling with the reality that life is hard to predict and it's even harder not to make the same mistakes over again, trying to control what I'm able to and leave the rest."
8 ROCK
HATE FOR SALE
The Pretenders
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/2PZnjup
More than 40 years after they formed, English-American band The Pretenders, fronted by female rock icon Chrissie Hynde, are still going strong with their 11th album.
Hate For Sale comprises 10 new songs Hynde wrote with guitarist James Walbourne. It is the band's first record to feature two musicians who have toured with them in the last 15 years: bassist Nick Wilkinson and founding drummer Martin Chambers.
Long-time fans will be familiar with the mix of hard rock, punk, balladry and reggae. Says Hynde: "That has become the tradition with all Pretenders albums. I think we're now at the "if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it" stage'."
9 ART ROCK
BEYOND THE PALE
Jarv Is
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/2EaxAkE
Beyond The Pale is the debut album by Jarv Is, the band headed by British singer-songwriter Jarvis Cocker, best known as the frontman of Brit-pop legends Pulp.
It is Cocker's first original music since 2009 and the songs were mostly recorded from live performances by the band over the last few years. "This is not a live album, it's an alive album," they stress in a press statement.
10 ALTERNATIVE ROCK
A CELEBRATION OF ENDINGS
Biffy Clyro
Hear it on: Spotify, Apple Music and other music streaming platforms
Watch it on: bit.ly/2Qfquyh
Scottish alt-rock veterans Biffy Clyro are back with their ninth album, A Celebration Of Endings. Frontman Simon Neil calls it a "forward-looking album" with songs written from both a personal and societal perspective. "The title is about seeing the joy in things changing, rather than the sadness," he says. "Change means progression and evolution. You can retain everything you loved before, but let's lose the bad s***. It's about trying to take back control."
