Ask Embla

1.) Beyoncé, “Countdown”

Even though she’s got a bey-bey on the way, nothing’s going to stop Beyonce from releasing the next single off of her latest studio album, 4: “Countdown.” After unleashing a slew of ballads and baby-making slow jams like “Best Thing I Never Had,” “1+1? and “Love On Top” (they worked, apparently!), the powerhouse vocalist’s latest release is about to bring Bey right back into the clubs when the song officially hits radio today, October 4.

Sampling the countdown from Boyz II Men‘s 1991 hit “Uhh Ahh,” Bey runs down the clock on her Shea Taylor/Cainon Lamb-produced track with a checklist of things she’d just love to do with her man. (“He pick me up with 8/Make me feel so lucky 7/He kiss me in his 6/We be making love in 5!”) Sounds better than my Friday nights.

Bey’s been busying herself so much that she’s even shot a video for her horn-heavy club banger already, which we got a 30 second tease of yesterday. Judging by the close-cropped ‘do and head-to-toe turtleneck and slacks, Beyonce’s serving pure Audrey Hepburn “Funny Face” ’60's-era realness. Watch for the full video to premiere this Thursday on MTV! + LISTEN TO BEYONCE, “COUNTDOWN”

2.) Lady Gaga, “Marry The Night”

It looks like “Yoü & I” are about to take it to the next level: According to the reliable fan mecca GagaDaily (as well as whispers from stylist Nicola Formichetti outside his fashion show in Paris last week), the next single off of Lady Gaga‘s monstrous second LP, Born This Way, will be “Marry The Night.”

Produced by Fernando Garibay (“Dance In The Dark”), the surging synth-pop album opener finds the woman of many lobster hats singing the praises of her beloved hometown — you guessed it, New York City! — while channeling her inner Whitney Houston-goes-Bruce Springsteen. It’s an all-out explosion of good ol’ American whiskey drinkin’ revelry, euphoric belting, and even some of Gaga’s signature stutter-heavy phrasing (“muh, muh, muh, marry!”), all set to one major sledgehammering beat.

And as for an upcoming video? No details for now, but something tells me Madame Gaga’s going to show up in something more than a pretty white dress. + LISTEN TO LADY GAGA, “MARRY THE NIGHT”

+ Listen to more Must-Hear Pop Songs Of The Week after the jump!

3.) Cher Lloyd, “With Ur Love”

Bratty British superstar-to-be and former “X Factor” finalist Cher Lloyd spent a good chunk of her summer kissing off haters with her noisy love-it-or-hate-it No. 1 debut single “Swagger Jagger,” but now she’s suddenly found herself hopelessly swept right off of her feet.

“With Ur Love,” Lloyd’s second single off of her upcoming studio debut, finds the 17-year-old singer flirting alongside “Please Don’t Go” crooner Mike Posner in a breezy, RiRi-like mid-tempo that recalls “What’s My Name?” or “Rude Boy.” “Used to always think I was bulletproof / But you got an AK, and you’re blowing through,” Lloyd concedes with all signature swagga-fied delivery during her lovestruck second single. “First date, first base/Second date, second base/Third date…you’re looking at me funny,” Posner teases during his rap.

“With Ur Love” a super cute, swoon-y lil’ love ditty, and undoubtedly the stuff of high school Facebook statuses for months to come when released in the UK on October 30. + LISTEN TO CHER LLOYD FEATURING MIKE POSNER, “WITH UR LOVE”

4.) The Saturdays, “My Heart Takes Over”

Hot off the stiletto heels of their massive club hit “All Fired Up,” the ladies of the UK’s The Saturdays are back with a brand new single, and this time, they’re going straight for your heartstrings. “My Heart Takes Over,” the band’s first real power ballad single since 2009's “Issues” (which, in retrospect, isn’t even really a power ballad…so it’s their first ever!) find the girls crushing hard on a love unrequited.

The song was produced by power-pop king Steve Mac, the same producer responsible for most of UK boy band The Wanted’s radio smashes, and co-penned by Norwegian song-scribe Ina Wroldsen. “Baby, you should know that this is where my heart takes over,” the girls cry out on the chorus, recalling all the best of producer Ryan Tedder’s massive pop ballads, including Leona Lewis‘ “Bleeding Love” and Kelly Clarkson‘s “Already Gone.”

The Sats’ chilly heartbreak ballad will be released on Nov. 13 (a week before their third studio album, On Your Radar), which makes “My Heart Takes Over” the perfect accompaniment to every Christmas blues playlist. What — oh, this? No…that’s not a tear! It’s just, um…a snowflake! Yeah. Just a snowflake. + LISTEN TO THE SATURDAYS, “MY HEART TAKES OVER”

5.) Ask Embla, “Winter”

Ina Wroldsen isn’t just responsible for penning today’s hottest pop for some of today’s biggest acts including Britney Spears (“He About To Lose Me”), Cobra Starship (“You Make Me Feel”) and The Saturdays — she’s also one-half of indie-pop unit, Ask Embla.

Formed along with Swedish producer Arnthor Birgisson, the same man responsible for such classic ’00's earworms as Jessica Simpson‘s “Irresistible” and Janet Jackson‘s “All Nite (Don’t Stop),” Ask Embla is a brand new side project for both Wroldsen and Birgisson. They’ve already put five songs up for streaming on SoundCloud so far, and the results are nothing less than (predictably) amazing Swede-pop.

“Winter,” one of the newest offerings from the duo, is a gorgeous moment of sad disco. “How can this illusion fight when everything dying around us?/Here comes winter,” Wroldsen sadly repeats as the song’s pulsating club beats pour into the speakers. Although “Winter” could easily fit onto any dance floor playlist, its the mournful melodies and heartbreaking lyricism that make this track a cut above the rest of the dance floor fluff. + LISTEN TO ASK EMBLA, “WINTER” - online-gossip.net

Two of our absolute favourite people behind the scenes of worldwide music have come together to form a new band. Sweden’s (Icelandic born) Arnthor Birgisson and Norway’s Ina Wroldsen are pooling their creative talents into Ask Embla.

Before we get to Ask Embla though, let’s take a quick snapshot of a few of the reasons why we love these two songwriters/producers.

Arnthor Birgisson has been behind;
Britney Spears: ‘Out From Under’
The Saturdays: ‘Higher’
Shontelle: ‘Impossible’
Jennifer Lopez: ‘Play’
Celine Dion: ‘Sorry For Love’ (that ridiculous/amazing CLUB track on her ‘A New Day Has Come’ album!)
Shayne Ward: ‘Breathless’
Shayne Ward: ‘If That’s OK With You’
Shayne Ward: ‘No U Hang Up’
Samantha Mumba: ‘Gotta Tell You’
Samantha Mumba: ‘Baby Come On Over’
Jessica Simpson: ‘Irresistible’
Nadine Coyle: ‘Put Your Hands Up’
Janet Jackson: ‘All Nite (Don’t Stop)’
Vanessa Hudgens: ‘Say OK’
Westlife: ‘Us Against The World’
Emilia de Poret: ‘Pick Me Up’
Leona Lewis: ‘My Hands’
Leona Lewis: ‘I Got You’

Ina Wroldsen has been behind;
The Saturdays: ‘Up’, ‘If This Is Love’, ‘Work’, ‘Keep Her’, ‘Ego’, ‘One Shot’, ‘Not Good Enough’, ‘Higher’, ‘Karma’, ‘Notorious’ (and lots of others too, but those ones are our favourites!)
Pussycat Dolls: ‘Hush Hush’
Jade Ewen: ‘My Man’
Shontelle: ‘Impossible’
Leona Lewis: ‘My Hands’
Leona Lewis: ‘I Got You’
Alexandra Burke: ‘Before The Rain’
Britney Spears: ‘He About To Lose Me’

As their new incarnation as Ask Embla, so far they’ve been steadily and regularly uploading tracks to their soundcloud page. As it stands now, there are 5 songs on there – and to our ears there isn’t a dud amongst them, despite the fact that they’re all very much only really demos just now.

First track ‘Ein’ is a little bit different to everything else they’ve presented. It’s a hugely melodic celtic ballad. Something which wouldn’t have sounded out of place as the theme tune to one of the films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s heartachingly beautiful, such a stunner.

Then there’s ‘Cry Baby’, ‘Northern Light’ and ‘Father’s Eyes’, all three of them mid-tempo ballads with a slightly urban edge to them. Much more contemporary, but sharing ‘Ein’s larger size of melody. There’s nothing subtle about these tracks – they’re all about being catchy tunes. And the most recent upload ‘Winter’ sees them toy with some dancefloor orientated sounds. It’s a synth heavy club track. Probably the weakest of the songs here, but that’s hardly a critique given the strength of the heavyweights that it’s playing alongside.

It’s a thoroughly enjoyable set, and one that we keep going back to. Go visit them at their Facebook page, and ‘like’ them. We imagine these two are gonna be something worth keeping an eye/ear on. And in the meantime, You can have a listen to all five songs below. Plus if you’re in London then you can see Ask Embla perform at the Hard Rock Café tomorrow night. We envy you, if so! - scandipop.co.uk

We did not know a huge amount about Ask Embla until some chatter started on the Popjustice forums a couple of weeks ago but the facts are:

1. The duo is Ina Wroldsen (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona' fame) and Arnthor Birgisson (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona Lewis' fame).

2. Usually when people who do hits for popstars write songs for themselves it turns out that they are, in fact, highly boring and have terrible taste in pop. Ask Embla, meanwhile, actually sound like proper pop music.

3. We were going to wait until tomorrow to write about them so that we could tell you about tonight's gig in London but then we thought, actually, why not do a Song Of The Day as well? And that is what we have done.

4. There are some really really really good songs on their SoundCloud but 'Father's Eyes' is the one that jumps out to us as being the best. We may change out minds later on.


- Popjustice.com

We did not know a huge amount about Ask Embla until some chatter started on the Popjustice forums a couple of weeks ago but the facts are:

1. The duo is Ina Wroldsen (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona' fame) and Arnthor Birgisson (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona Lewis' fame).

2. Usually when people who do hits for popstars write songs for themselves it turns out that they are, in fact, highly boring and have terrible taste in pop. Ask Embla, meanwhile, actually sound like proper pop music.

3. We were going to wait until tomorrow to write about them so that we could tell you about tonight's gig in London but then we thought, actually, why not do a Song Of The Day as well? And that is what we have done.

4. There are some really really really good songs on their SoundCloud but 'Father's Eyes' is the one that jumps out to us as being the best. We may change out minds later on.


- Popjustice.com

We did not know a huge amount about Ask Embla until some chatter started on the Popjustice forums a couple of weeks ago but the facts are:

1. The duo is Ina Wroldsen (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona' fame) and Arnthor Birgisson (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona Lewis' fame).

2. Usually when people who do hits for popstars write songs for themselves it turns out that they are, in fact, highly boring and have terrible taste in pop. Ask Embla, meanwhile, actually sound like proper pop music.

3. We were going to wait until tomorrow to write about them so that we could tell you about tonight's gig in London but then we thought, actually, why not do a Song Of The Day as well? And that is what we have done.

4. There are some really really really good songs on their SoundCloud but 'Father's Eyes' is the one that jumps out to us as being the best. We may change out minds later on.


- Popjustice.com

We did not know a huge amount about Ask Embla until some chatter started on the Popjustice forums a couple of weeks ago but the facts are:

1. The duo is Ina Wroldsen (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona' fame) and Arnthor Birgisson (of 'writing a load of big tunes for other people including The Saturdays and Leona Lewis' fame).

2. Usually when people who do hits for popstars write songs for themselves it turns out that they are, in fact, highly boring and have terrible taste in pop. Ask Embla, meanwhile, actually sound like proper pop music.

3. We were going to wait until tomorrow to write about them so that we could tell you about tonight's gig in London but then we thought, actually, why not do a Song Of The Day as well? And that is what we have done.

4. There are some really really really good songs on their SoundCloud but 'Father's Eyes' is the one that jumps out to us as being the best. We may change out minds later on.


- Popjustice.com