SINGAPORE - The world might be gripped by a global pandemic, but that has not stopped pop stars Billie Eilish and Katy Perry from being optimistic in their latest songs. The tunes are among10 recently released works in pop, hip-hop, rock, electronic and alternative music .

1. POST-PUNK

ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY

Protomartyr

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While the songs in Ultimate Success Today, the fifth album by American post-punk band Protomartyr, were written in 2019, the dark, apocalyptic lyrics seem to predict many events that mark 2020 - from cities racked by violence to illness and mortality.

Singer Joe Casey says he wrote the songs after being "terribly ill" from 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.

2. AMERICANA/FOLK/INDIE POP

Old Flowers

Courtney Marie Andrews

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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 in a press statement of the songs, which she composed in various 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 okay with that, if it means truth."

3. CHILLWAVE/SYNTHPOP

PURPLE NOON

Washed Out

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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. ROCK

HATE FOR SALE

The Pretenders

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More than four decades after they formed, English-American rock band The Pretenders, fronted by female rock icon Chrissie Hynde, are still going on strong and have released their 11th album.

Hate For Sale comprises 10 new songs she wrote with guitarist James Walbourne, andis the band's first record to feature two other musicians who have toured with themin 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, ballad and reggae songs. Hynde says in a press statement: "Yeah, 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'."

5. ALTERNATIVE ROCK

A CELEBRATION OF ENDINGS

Biffy Clyro

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Scottish alternative rock veterans Biffy Clyro are back with their ninth album, A Celebration Of Endings.

Frontman Simon Neil describes the new work as a "forward-looking album" with songs written from a personal and societal perspective.

"The title is about seeing the joy in things changing, rather than the sadness," he says in a press statement. "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."

6. ART ROCK

BEYOND THE PALE

Jarv Is

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Beyond The Pale is the debut album by Jarv Is, the band headed by British singer-songwriter Jarvis Cocker, who is best known as the frontman of Britpop legends Pulp.

It is the first new original music from Cocker since 2009. The songs were mostly recorded from various live performances by the bandin the last few years.

"This is not a live album, it's an alive album," the band stresses in a press statement.

7. ELECTRONIC/EXPERIMENTAL/R&B

ALL THE TIME

Jessy Lanza

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The songs on Canadian electronic musician Jessy Lanza's third album, written in 2019, deal with anger and cynicism, themes she says are more than 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. ALTERNATIVE POP

MY FUTURE

Billie Eilish

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The world's biggest teenage pop star is back with a new song, My Future.

Billie Eilish wrote the optimistic 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 says 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."

9. HIP-HOP

LAUGH NOW CRY LATER

Drake featuring Lil Durk

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Laugh Now Cry Later, which has a sports-inspired music video, is the lead single for 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 from several American sports stars - football players Odell Beckham Jr. and Marshawn Lynch, and basketball player Kevin Durant.

10. POP

SMILE

Katy Perry

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Katy Perry clowns around in her newest 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 heavily pregnant pop star is expecting her first child with her fiance, British actor Orlando Bloom.