It was Lady Gaga’s week pop-wise with her fan-dividing new track ‘Perfect Illusion’ and her secret gig in Hackney. Horrible key change aside we *quite* like the new single but there are five other new pop tracks we want you to focus on first.

We’re kicking off with the title track from one of the most criminally overlooked albums of the year by one of our favourite upcoming Australian artists… the mighty Olympia.

Olympia – Self Talk

Olympia’s videos (see also ‘Smoke Signals’) can make you feel you are actually watching an old episode of TOTP 1982 on BBC Four. And we like that very much. Her album Self Talk is a treasure from start to finish and will be right up your street if the last Roisin album was just a bit too Roisin for your taste or you’re living in hope of a new St Vincent album dropping any time soon. Eloquent storytelling lyrics, retro synths and big guitar sounds justify the two aforementioned artist comparisons. Here’s the new video for ‘Self Talk’ which is such a feast for your visual senses. The tune’s a winner too.

K.I.D. – Errors

This duo are one of our tips for greatness in 2017. They released an EP a while back which include ‘I Wish I Was Your Cigarette’ and ‘New Emotion’ – two massive pop hits that never were. Now signed to a major and working with some fellow upcoming pop prospects (like Allie X) ‘Errors’ is a welcome return for these super cool Canadians. They are not quite as crunchy as Sleigh Bells but share their attitude – just with walloping great choruses that a certain Ms Germanotta (old Poker Face – you know who I mean) would kill for.

The Chain Gang Of 1974 – I Still Wonder

We have had two of the stand out pop albums of the year delivered by M83 and St Lucia and now our man The Chain Gang Of 1974 pitches in with his comeback single which borrows appropriately from the sounds across those two records. ‘I Still Wonder’ has an intro which partly resembles Carly R-J’s ‘Run Away With Me’ before bursting forth into stadium sized power pop.

Foret de Vin featuring SAY – Another Dimension

So if Five Star had covered Scritti Politti back in the day THIS is what it might have sounded like. I know diddly squat about this Swedish duo but if there are more tunes coming our way along these lines I’m in. Loving the Roland D-50 – eat that synth nerds!

Vérité – Somebody Else

We haven’t quite gotten our heads around this new found acceptance for all things The 1975. From being generally derided by the music press they have swaggered into a lofty position selling out big venues and having a number one record. We aren’t entirely sure how this happened. Anyways, their way around a tune is undeniable and on the basis of this cover they may be better off giving their tunes to spiky pop princesses like Vérité (she has dropped some top pop tuneage in the past two years or so – see also ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Wasteland’).

For more brand new music check out our latest round-up featuring new songs by Katie Gately and The Midnight.