Today's Pick

Lady Antebellum paint a haunting picture of unrequited love in their brand-new video for their latest single, "Wanted You More," the fourth single taken from their Grammy award-winning album, "Own the Night," The trio unleash the country rock ballad with lush orchestral arrangements and heartfelt lyrics. Lady Antebellum have always relied on slick, modern production, so this new offering is more style than substance.
The country trio wrote "Wanted You More" during soundcheck one afternoon with their road band, and the melody contains the influence of dozens of pit stops and sound checks. The melancholy tune tells a story that rings true for anyone who has been through a bad breakup. Eventually, everyone has a moment when they realize that they were willing to sacrifice more than their ex. The beauty of that moment of clarity, though, is that then you get to walk away and that's what this song and music video are about.
"After listening to the song more and more, it felt like it's almost the next stage of 'Need You Now'," Charles Kelley explains. "It's like you're past that... I guess you wanted me more than I wanted you. I don't need this anymore. It's cool to be continuing that story a little bit." Scott added "That song, with the instrumentation and lyrics, it makes me sad to sing it. But the lyrics, everybody, whether we want to admit it or not, has been in a place where we cared about someone more than they cared about us. It's a vulnerable thing to admit. It's definitely emotional."
Filmed in Nashville last month by director Noble Jones, who takes an intense video to capture the essence of this serious power ballad, and made it happen. The artistic clip uses natural elements like sunbeams, empty fields and butterflies combined with shots of a couple in turmoil to reflect the serious nature of the song. By the final verse, the burning piano and an orange glow coming from each band member's chest times perfectly with the rising melody. Those final scenes indicate just how dramatic the song really is.

Southern rhymer B.o.B and country-pop songbird Taylor Swift unite on the new video set for "Both of Us," the third single lifted off rapper's sophomore album, "Strange Clouds." The video is a tribute to the hard-working everyperson. In fact, the video doesn't focus on the superstar duo for too long, as it cuts to scenes of every day people, from all walks of life, living their day-to-day lives.
The track finds the rapper identifying with underdogs, as he rhymes about battling pain and hardships in life. While the 23-year-ol rhymer is roaming the streets and spitting his lines, the country music beauty is playing with a dog in a field of flowers. On how the duet project came about, he recently shared that Swift "came to Atlanta and she hit up Grand Hustle. I wasn't there. Tip was there, and I eventually linked with her in Dallas, and the rest is history."
The Jake Nava-directed clip was filmed in Nashville, and it opens with B.o.B hanging out in his modest home, while Swift is chilling out in the most un-Taylor Swift spot in music video history, a pool hall. As the video closes out, viewers are left with a sort of fantasy, with B.o.B and Swift re-imagined as the everyman and everywoman living simple lives in rural Tennessee, much like the folks in the video. This video instead sheds light on the grittier sides of the country music capital, following the lyrics of the track, which center on adversity and strife.
The video isn't glamorous, but it leaves viewers appreciating the little things in life. It's not about money, it's about understanding that sometimes a romp through a sprinkler or a good game of billiards is enough to take you away from the mundane moments of everyday life. The twosome just want to make sure that this summer, you take the time to appreciate the little things in life, like running through sprinklers and playing a good game of pool or if you're feeling as adventurous as Swift, jumping into a pool.

Lana Del Rey has just released the music video for her new single "National Anthem," which places her in the midst of John F. Kennedy's final days. With Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky playing the part of the young commander in chief, Del Rey takes on both Marilyn Monroe in her best effort at all its slinky and seductive glory, and Jackie Kennedy, a very loose-hipped, dancing version of the First Lady. This song fits in well with the indie pop intrigue's post-Lizzy Grant cinematic "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" public image.
"National Anthem" is the fifth single taken from Del Rey's debut album, "Born to Die," which peaked at No.2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release back in January. Save for the fact that the song is called "National Anthem," its hard to see how the presidency and death of JFK really figure in here. The takeaway line from the whole song: "Money is the anthem of success." Throwing Rocky into the mix actually makes a bit of sense, as the song was produced by Emile Haynie and Jeff Bhasker, two maestros with resumes rich with hip-hop and rap productions.
"Every so often, I top what I've done, and this video is definitely the most beautiful thing I've ever done," the 26-year-old moody songstress previously said. The Mandler-directed 7-minute epic clip lives up to the hype by coming in with a sprawling nearly eight-minute run time, and boasts a visual ode to money and success more so than a history lesson. Through good performances and gorgeous Super-8 cinematography and a complete indifference to anything related to governing, actually does an amazingly nice job depicting Del Rey and Rocky embrace their characters completely.
The clip begins in black and white, and flashes back in time with Del Rey as Marilyn Monroe sings her seductive "Happy Birthday" to the cigar-smoking President in 1962. The clip then segues to Del Rey as Jackie Kennedy sitting beside her husband during the tragic Dallas motorcade in November 1963 during which the President was assassinated, but as the music fades out, Del Rey leaves the viewer with some food for thought.

Maroon 5 have unleashed a music video in support of their latest single "One More Night." It follows frontman Adam Levine as a father of one who works a grueling schedule as a boxer. One night after a big fight which he won, he goes home with battered face only to find out that his family has left. The the catchy reggae-drenched tune is the lead-off track and second single from pop rock band's just-released dance-heavy new album, "Overexposed." Kicking off with a reggae-style guitar on "One More Night," the album starts on a subtle yet sharp note.
It is a pop song, with a reggae beat infused into the percussion, giving the song a more dancey feel. Lyrically, the song is built upon the idea of the quintessential push and pull between what the heart, mind and body want, which are usually opposing things. The song is erected on a thumped out beat, in addition to Levine's signature falsetto, where he tosses off lyrics about not getting along with (or being able to untangle himself from) his lady love, and hoping he only stays with her just 'one more night.'
"One More Night" is not a dance floor anthem, it's certainly a bouncy, reggae-flecked midtempo with a chorus that feels reassuringly familiar that's sure to inspire sing-alongs. "I do love the lyrics," Levine said of the song. "The metaphor that we spoke of earlier, a relationship between two people, sometimes when it's not going so well, it feels like a battle. Like a boxing match." Levine wins a big fight, but it no longer matters when he returns home and finds out that the people he loves dearly have left.
Things don't end too well for our hero, whose wife ends up leaving him, and their romance is not of the fairy-tale variety. But Levine’s still grateful Kelly showed up in the first place. The music video is directed by "Battleship" helmer Peter Berg. "Just go with It" babe-alicious actress Minka Kelly plays Levine's love interest. "I play a heartbreaker, I guess," she said in the clip. "I do very bad things... but necessary." To prepare for the fight scene, the frontman got a training he'll never forget. He said, "I got the guy who was training me. He hit me, and it hurt."

David Archuleta has just released a music video in support of his latest sensational new love song "I'll Never Go," the second single taken from the American Idol Season 7 runner-up's fourth studio OPM-album, "Forevermore," a collection of all original Filipino classic love songs, has been in stores since spring.
The OPM, or Original Pilipino Music, refers to pop songs–particularly ballads from the late 70s on–made famous by some of the country's most popular singers. "I wouldn't say that I sound better than the original singers because the singers here are so amazing. But I would hope that I could pay tribute to them with this album," Archuleta once said. The new ballad, which might be Archuleta's best song yet, and is sure to get tons of radio airplay this summer.
The 21-year-old soul singer is currently on a Mormon mission, and his content is rolling out at a slow pace in order to space things out before he returns. In March, the half-Honduran singer had another surprise for his fans: he announced he was cutting his Bieber-esque locks in favor of a more conservative look. "Just about to go get my haircut for my mission. You have to keep it short and clean, and nicely cut, so I'm going to go do that now," the singer said at the time.
The clip for "I'll Never Go," was filmed in Manila, back when Archuleta was still in the country, and is more than effective of achieving some great emotion despite being relatively simplistic in structure. The runner-up of 'American Idol' season 7 continues to promote his album "Forevermore," before moving on to his next studio installment called "BEGIN." He re-records singles by such artists as Christina Aguilera, Sarah McLachlan, Cyndi Lauper and U2 for the effort. Among the cover songs, there is one new material called "Broken," which he wrote himself.

US pop TV band Big Time Rush, a Californian boy band formed as the winners of a Nickelodeon produced television series of the same name, who have just released their new single and video for their brand new one-off summer single, "Windows Down," which is the first single of Big Time Rush's, still unnamed, third album. The single is set for release today, along with a new third episode, "Big Time Returns," the hit series centers on four hockey players from Minnesota who are selected to form a boy band in Los Angeles.
Described as a summertime anthem, "Windows Down" shamelessly rips off Blur's famous tune "Song 2" - drumbeat, guitar riff, 'woo-hoos' and all - while giving it a slick dose of processed pop and lyrics about partying hard. The track samples one of Brit-pop's most iconic anthems, that would suggest that Blur either licensed the use of their track, or that they're being paid royalties for its use. In fact, that "Windows Down" is actually a re-write of a tune sold to the pop group by none other than trash-mistress Ke$ha.
"Windows Down is a song that completely embodies fun and we wanted to shoot a video that captured the four of us doing just that," BTR band member Logan Henderson told Us Weekly. "We shot the video in Maui and did everything from cliff diving to paddle boarding to a house party with the locals. Our fans will get a chance to see a more mature and playful side of BTR." The track is s so fresh, summery, party-ready, and so damn catchy. It will definitely make you want to get up and dance.
The music video was filmed in tropical Maui, Henderson and his bandmates have gone all out, and take their fans to enjoy warm weather and have a fun summer day on the beach in Hawaii. The clip feature the rising US boyband cruising around in an open jeep, greeting fans, get shirtless, hit the beach, and executing some serious cliff diving moves at the beach, among other 'having fun' scenes, all while showing off their ripped physiques of course!

First Aid Kit are back with a new utterly beautiful music video for their breezy pop radiation of current single, "Blue," the third single taken from their recent excellent second LP, "The Lion's Roar." a record so bursting full of alternative folk rock that it sounds as though it were spawned from the loins of the dusty midwest, belying the two bashful Scandinavian women, are undoubtedly one of the hottest sister duos around right now in every sense of the word.
The Comet favorite, First Aid Kit, a Swedish indie/folk duo consisting of the young sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, whose close vocal harmonies and woodsy, folk-influenced songwriting take influence from the likes of Fleet Foxes and Joanna Newsom. The sisters manage to so effortlessly create a timeless sound that is vulnerable yet musically mature can only be commended, and thoroughly enjoyed. Transcending the expectations of the listener.
The pair's newest song "Blue," is full of haunting nuance and the video is positively as beautiful as it is haunting. The track has providing a stunning example of what lies in wait on the album. According to Klara, many songs on "The Lion's Roar," are based on universal emotions: "'Blue' is about this woman who looking back at her life and regretting the things she didn't do. We sort of write about our fears of the future and regrets we may have kind of as a warning to ourselves - 'Don't become these people', rather than just 'Oh, I'm 19 and I'm scared about the future.'"
The sisters do appear in the Daniel Wirtberg-directed video, but taking center stage is the veteran Swedish actress Ewa Fröling, who stars as a widowed former beauty queen. A touching video showing Fröling going about her daily business and the troubles she has when visiting a local bonfire. The relationship between beauty and age is a finicky thing, but legendary Swedish actress is an exception to the rule, as best exemplified here. Bonfires, Dickensian homes, and snazzy shades add an eerie twinge to this '60s throwback.

The Far East Movement team up with the Karen Amanda Reifer-fronted Barbados four-piece pop band, Cover Drive, to throw a street party for their new UK single and video "Turn Up the Love," a rare love song from the hip-hop group known for its high-energy dance tracks.
Follow-up to the group's single "Live My Life" with Justin Bieber, the international pop friendly tune "Turn Up The Love," serves as the third single off Electro-pop band's sophomore major label set, "Dirty Bass." To give the song some international flair, the East L.A. outfit wrangled in Barbadian quartet Cover Drive to sing the chorus, and featuring heavy dance beat with Karen Amanda Reifer on the hook.
Directed by Matt Alonzo, the feel-good 'celebratory' clip for "Turn Up the Love," offers the usual Far East Movement fare, and sees the "Like a G6" hitmakers wearing ridiculously-huge fake bling-blings, along with Cover Drive to host a flashy party on the streets where everybody's invited to dance their troubles away from day to night time. The beat is hot, and Amanda's chorus is ace!
The colorful video is based on the simple concept of a summer street party, with grilling, cars and boomboxes. When night falls, a larger group of people gathers together to sing in unison and party the night away. As the whooshing synths play out the song, the crowd engages in a little bit of hip-hop line dancing. Every day is Friday in the Far East Movement land!

Durrell Babbs better known by his stage name Tank has returned with a music video featuring T.I. and Kris Stephens for "Compliments," the first single appears on the R&B singer's just released latest fifth effort, "This Is How I Feel," via Atlantic Records.
On single "Compliments," originally featured back in September of 2011, Tank regaled his girl with a laundry list of her admirable qualities. Now, the 36-year-old R&B veteran's returned to dole out another round of glowing praise on the official remix. For this version of the cut, original feature Kris Stephens cedes her spot to T.I., who showcases his own knack for flattery in a fresh guest verse.
The R&B crooner explained the background to the song: "I've been trying to fuse R&B along with more upbeat club music. I've been trying to find the perfect balance for me; to not to be so chanty and out there, but have a record I can sing on that can make sense in the club. Kris Stephens is my first artist off my label, so I had her on there showing off, giving a sultry vocal. If it's gonna be an R&B song, it's got to be about a woman. I created the record with a call-out, so women can participate, and so we could get back to celebrating women in that way, just as simple as a compliment. I was just trying to create that feel-good moment for women. We added T.I. to make the record totally unfair."
Tank never commanded a large budget for his music videos but him reach a new low with "Compliments." The Juwan Lee-directed visual takes place in an abandoned warehouse backed by a patchwork wall in Atlanta, and sees Tank singing about killing the ladies with flattery. As these threesome each prepare for their own sexy solo performance shots, all the while being goofy and having the time of their lives while on set. The single, is dedicated to all the women out there to let them know that they are appreciated and beautiful.

Swedish singer Agnes who won our hearts over with her huge dance hit "Release Me" has instead chosen to make her comeback with a brand new video for her latest pop ballad, "One Last Time," the lead single taken from her upcoming fourth studio album that's scheduled to release this Summer. This time around, the Swedish Idol alum is ditching the high energy dance beats to go a more mature adult contemporary route with her newest ode to fractured love, "One Last Time." is heart crushingly sweet and a power ballad to the core.
"One Last Time" is an epic power ballad seen through a kaleidoscope of Swedish indie-pop and the lyrics are simplistic yet very poignant. It's a hugely emotional song about coming to the painful realization that your other half doesn't want you anymore, and so pleading with them to be held just one last time. The 24-year-old songstress delivers a depressingly stunning vocal performance, reaching for the emotional jugular with a scarily accurate description of the exact moment you're being let go by a lover.
As such, her vocal on it remains fragile throughout only it's been tuned out and turned into a haunting and ghostly cry by studio effects. Agnes said in an interview that the inspiration for the song came from a nightmare that she had one night, where she had "fucked up everything" regarding her relationship: "This is the most emotional song I have ever written. When you write a song that means a lot to you, it becomes a part of yourself. That's the case with "One Last Time." I hope I can touch people with it."
Shot in Stockholm, the Amir Chamdin-directed black-and-white clip is all about the drama and Agnes' big hair. It starts with Agnes walking through the woods, and by the beach, and continues with her sitting on the floor, singing, lying on a parking lot together with the man and crying until it ends with the same scene it started with. The idea behind the video is to describe how it feels when you have wrecked something that means really much to you. The tears that Agnes shed during the clip is real, and she couldn't stop bursting into tears during the filming of the music video.

Azealia Banks is back from her deletion from the twitter world, and showing how much of a bad girl she really is, just in time to drop off her first professional music video for her latest funky banger, "Liquorice," the closing track off her debut EP "1991," which is stuffed with slick rhymes and follows an insane rhythm, and its visual accompaniment is as juicy as the popsicle she wraps her lips around, and it's got a heavy taste of the old west and a unique take on some classic Americana.
The dance-rap track, "Liquorice" is the first release for Banks since she terminated the services of Lady GaGa's manager and employed Coldplay's, who also happen to be her boyfriend. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old young Harlem star, is spitting explicit lyrics on "Liquorice" that could rival that of Lil Kim's "Hardcore" days, however her flow is so sick that the content might be an afterthought to the average listener. With its ravey beat and relentless rhymes, is one of our favorite songs of the year.
The Harlem rapstress unleashes her Wild Wild West side in the American West themed visual, which was directed by famed English photographer Rankin, styled by Nicola Formichetti, in a sun drenched 'dust bowl' western backdrop, with the singer in everything from leather cowboy outfit to an American flag bikini with some extra long ombre hair while suggestively sucking on a red, white and blue popsicle. It's as stylish and as slick as you could ever hope for.
The clip starts with an intro straight out of a Sergio Leone western, and as gunshot effects and two tone animations and stop shots lead into the song. As a bat-wielding, horseback-riding, shootout-hosting cowgirl, Banks gallivanting around a town from the Old West and wraps herself in all sorts of American cultural iconography, such as, baseball and hot dogs and mashes them up with the rappers own brash personality, and she somehow manages to get in a shootout with herself near the middle. Even though Banks herself is the only human being who shows up onscreen, it's still a fun, ridiculously glossy affair.

Katy Perry borrows from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" book for her brand-new "Wide Awake" clip by transforming the fantasy trope into a bit of an autobiography. "Wide Awake" is the second and final single from the re-release, and eighth and final single from the "Teenage Dream" era overall. Perry's fairy-tale clip closes the book on her "Teenage Dream" story and finds her living happily ever after.
This mid tempo number follows directly from "Part of Me" on the track listing. Whilst "Part" is a kiss-off to a former beau, this song finds Perry crooning about the feeling of empowerment she feels after finishing a relationship. Utilizing dance-pop and electronic music in its composition, "Wide Awake" is lyrically about the reality of a break up and moving on, which many have believed to have been written about Perry's ex-husband, Russell Brand, since it was written and recorded after the break-up. She also noted that major life changes were a factor in the lyrics.
The 27-year-old singer told MTV News that she wrote the song not only for the album, but also was partly inspired and specifically written for her upcoming part-biopic, part-concert 3D film, "Katy Perry: Part of Me." Perry manages to empower the song without belting, thanks to the emotion with which she sings, and "Wide Awake" is one of the most well-crafted mainstream pop songs of summer 2012. Perry penned "Wide Awake" as the perfect end to her "Teenage Dream" phase and the music video for the single is meant to be a metaphor for her journey the last few years.
The Tony T. Datis-directed clip features a fairy tale-plot with Perry on the set of her music video for "California Girls" before retreating to her dressing room. Once there, the singer falls into a dream world, which feels like a cross between Labyrinth and Alice in Wonderland, while Perry is forced to make her way through a maze with the help of her spirit guide where a girl(young Perry) looked through a story book that flashbacks of the "Teenage Dream" era singles, each one as a chapter in the book with "Wide Awake" being the final chapter.

Soulful songstress Melanie Fiona serves up another helping of her sophomore studio album, "The MF Life" with the video for her latest radio banger, "This Time," featuring your favorite sideline story. The 28-year-old Canadian R&B/Soul singer opens her second studio album, "The MF Life," with this optimistic track, in which she leaves her anger at her heart being broken behind and embraces positivity instead.
In a press release, Fiona explained the album's title, "the 'MF' in the album title represents my initials, but it also gets at the many facets of myself as an artist and a young woman. It can be viewed as the 'Mighty Fine Life' in times of triumph and success, but also the 'Mother-F-ing Life' when I'm dealing with frustration or misfortune. I celebrate both. I feel it would be dishonest if everything was all about glitz and glamour. It's about the balance of life, the yin and the yang, the good and the bad, all of that." Its music expands on the classicist R&B influences of Fiona's 2009 debut album "The Brdige," and its songs deal with themes of aggrievement, longing, and romantic triumph.
The song features Fiona's Roc Nation label mate J. Cole. After the pair both worked on "Beautiful Bliss," a track on Wale's debut album "Attention Deficit," the pair became friends and talked about doing a song together. "I wanted some male energy on this record," Fiona said. "I reached out to Cole and we had already done a song with Wale ['Beautiful Bliss'] and we all just really had great chemistry on the record. I was a fan of J. Cole. We met at the very, very beginning of his career, so we've kind of come up together."
Fiona and rapper also team up and come together for a brand new visual for a sexy and romantic duet of sorts with their new hit collabo "This Time." Directed by Colin Tilley, and shot in Los Angeles, the brand new video really gives fans a visual to the heart-felt and sensual lyrics of this track. Check out the two whose sound is undeniable together. Fiona explained, "I wanted this video to be really beautiful with really good elements of photography, and great angles I wanted people to get a vibe for me. Now they have it thanks to director Colin Tilley."

Blake Shelton falls in love with a brunette in a just-released music video for his newest single "Over," the fourth single from his sixth studio album "Red River Blue." Leading to its video premiere on CMT Friday, a special four-part webisode series was released to give fans a humorous glimpse at what goes into making a music video. In this new video, things start to heat up when the house Shelton's in is suddenly set on fire!
The mid tempo tune doesn't really fit Shelton's style or personality, but his performance is soaked in emotion, and as usual, he proves to be among the top vocalists in the genre. Lyrically, the Paul Jenkins and David Elliott Johnson-penned cut fails to send one’s imagination into overdrive like a great song should. It’s an extraordinary recording of an ordinary song. It's a safe choice for album that features some edgier and arguably better material.
Johnson explained that he wrote this song for his father in homage. "I wrote the song in an effort to reach my father through the medium we were both cursed by, music," he explained. "It is in our blood, our hearts, in our breath, in everything we do. The song's opening line, If I could, I would dare, feed your dreams and starve your fears, was the most personal line I'd ever written. It was the truth. The chorus, Tell me what I have to do to win you over, was one of the more painful I'd every written."
The song is about a man pleading to know what he has to do to win over the woman he loves. And the video itself illustrates the burn inside with a literal fire–which was set in the desert during sundown. The 36-year-old-to-be Oklahoma country music star is playing with fire in this new "Over" video, which was directed by his longtime collaborator Roman White. The singer joked, "I've used Roman a bunch of times, and I've never won video of the year. That's why I don't feel bad trashing Roman." Walking through the desert and setting a house on fire, Shelton sings his heart out with raging fire surrounding him, while the woman of his affection is miles away.

T.I. has returned to the familiar territory after he served a 11-month jail stint. And life's so good, he decides to share it with his queens in his new fashion-themed clip for "Love This Life," serves as the lead single from his forthcoming eighth studio album, "Trouble Man," is scheduled for September 4th. The 31-year-old Georgia-born rapper told MTV News that a 1972 Marvin Gaye song of the same name was the inspiration for the album title.
Through the song, T.I. talks about a woman falling in love with living the high life. Speaking to XXL magazine, the MC explained that the song speaks to women, "but from a man's perspective." He described the song's concept as "People who find themselves in a situation where the woman might say she wants to part ways with the man, but the man [is] like, 'Let's be sensible about this. You gonna leave all this? And go where?'" While T.I. incorporates references to cars, shoes, and jewelry, he also expresses the desire to have an understanding relationship.
That's T.I. himself harmonizing on the song's hook. It's not the first time Tip's sung on one of his singles. The song is thematically reminiscent of his 2008 chart-topper single "Whatever You Like," in which he delivered breathy, soft vocals on the chorus. T.I. made a killing on Paper Trail when he made it okay to trick if you got it. "Love This Life" is a great rap ballad that could make the toughest neighborhood thug want to buy candy and flowers for his girlfriend.
The King of the South is definitely talking big shit over the thumping, piano and bass guitar-driven soundbed, and letting his lady know that life don't get no better than this. He raps about treating his lady to the finer things of life in the Ryan Hope-directed smooth video, which is a fairly generic hip-hop video, with T.I. rapping and smoking a cigar while shots of sexy women sporting high-fashion outfits flash in and out. Nevertheless, "Love This Life" will certainly be occupying the airwaves this summer, and the clip is sure to spend some time on the weekly countdowns as well.

After dropping the visual for his cover of Whitney Houston tribute "Exhale," Robin Thicke keeping things grown and sexy, and decides to release the official video for another sexy slow jam, "All Tied Up," the third single off of his fifth 2011 effort "Love After War." The 35-year-old entertainer spends a lot of time pondering romantic turmoil, but he's at his best when he reverts to classic loverman form: squeezing gentle bossa nova chords on his acoustic guitar, and letting his feathery upper register do the dirty work.
During an interview with Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately, Thicke explained that he wrote this song after his actress wife, Paula Patton, refused to have sex with him one week when she was busy on set. "I was losing my mojo," he revealed. "I was taking care of the baby - we have a new year-and-a-half-old son, Julian... After a week or so, I wasn't gettin' none... I was like, I need to make a song that's gonna put her in some lingerie." Hear the panty-dropping crooner hit all the high notes above.
We were full-on expecting sexy ladies sexily tied up in sexy ropes and sailors knots in Thicke's latest visual. But the only thing tied up here is a shoelace, but that doesn't mean the kinky Duets judge didn't bring the titillation. The video is giving you exactly the naughtiness that the title suggests. The "Duets" star keeps it simple, sultry and sensual in the artistic black-and-white shots featuring him and some lovely eye candy getting close.
Heats up the screen in his new steamy video, the R&B crooner strips shirtless to show off what his wife Paula Patton has been working wit. He even breaks from his normal falsetto that he's known for and seduces with his alto range while he getting up close, bumping, grinding, petting heavily and becoming increasingly naked with a smoking hot supermodel for comfort. Peek into their intimate escapade. "All Tied Up," is going to make you wanna explore your sexuality immediately but in a safe, consensual way, obviously!

To go along with Tuesday's release of their fifth studio album, "Synthetica," Metric has premiered the music video for their gleaming, stomping glam-pop single "Youth Without Youth," the lead single from Canadian indie rock band's new record. The foursome rock band is known to grace their albums with at least one standout song. The new tune is no exception, it's a driving, punchy number that vaguely resembles Muse with band's frontwoman Emily Haines at the helm.
"Youth Without Youth" tackles the subject of a fraying social state through the eyes of a deprived youth, and is about a troubled youth was inspired by the spiraling student loan debt, which at the time it was written had reached $1 trillion in America. Haines said that the track's inspiration "started as just one verse, a very slow, sad story, and the song grew from there. The lyrics trace innocence lost as childlike games grow into teenaged trouble, and these words are buoyed by a glammy, sleazy, danceable sound.
Lyrically, Haines toys with powerful imagery, using phrases like double dutch with a hand grenade, and "rubber soul with a razor blade to describe a young life full of malaise and even criminality. "Youth Without Youth," is far more striking with its funky riff, blending nicely with Haines' honeyed tones, and it is a glam sugar with a bitter core. Perennial indie crush Haines drops a wasted-youth anthem with scarred poetry like 'We played blindman's bluff till they stopped the game,' over a bleak-bubblegum stomp.
Haines ignites some powerful, heady sociopolitical messages atop fuzzed-out electro-rocking melodies and rhythms in Justin Broadbent-Directed clip, which is the most '90s-MTV thing I've seen in a while. It opens with a stomping, strutty beat that ushers in Haines, who's flicking lighters. In a drably colored room, back-in-the-day childhood imagery is juxtaposed with more violent material, mirroring the song's sentiment. There's a girl building a multi-tiered birthday cake, a bunny rabbit, a stuffed animal and football, all interspersed with guns, handcuffs and grenade.

Hot on the heels of the just announced Trespass America tour, the hard rockers Five Finger Death Punch, no stranger to a good cause, aim to promote the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline through their just-unleashed new video for group's latest single "Coming Down," their thirteenth single overall and the fourth single from the heavy metal band's latest third album "American Capitalist," which landed at No.3 on the Billboard charts upon its released last fall.
"Coming Down," is a moody mid-tempo number with plenty of moshability, but there's also some provocative lyrics situated among the battering ram riffery and lead singer Ivan Moody's vitriolic bark. When Moody sings, "I pull you under / Just to save myself," it's a chilling testament to looking out for No.1, which is something we all must done sometime in our lives. The song is a crunchy and angry anthem that speaks to the psyches of all segments of the population that likes a nasty riff and snarled vocal patterns, and easy-to-relate-to lyrical proclamations and declarations.
Sonically, the song pulls back when it needs to, only to clamp down on the jugular as the pulse and the pace quicken. From stem to stern, the song begs to be sung along to, mixing alternately screamed and sung vocals. This could easily be one of those songs used during a blow them up sequence in a big budget summer blockbuster. It has that kind of energy. With "Coming Down," Five Finger Death Punch mesh melody with heavy artillery and the result is bonecrushing and memorable at once.
The visually arresting video that addresses teen suicide was directed by Nick Peterson, and it features a message consistent with the band's recent suicide prevention initiative. The eye-opening video starts with a shocking montage of troubled teens on the edge of suicide. It chronicles their stories throughout the video from bullying to self-image issues to the damage it causes from drug abuse, cutting, and suicide. The video is admittedly hard to watch at times, but that's by design. It serves as an important reminder that suicide impacts everyone and shows how each one of us can help save a life by just a little awareness.

Kicking off the week with a big release, Chris Brown hits fans with yet another new futuristic visual for his latest dance-inspired track "Don't Wake Me Up." The song is the fourth single from the pop and R&B singer's fifth studio album, "Fortune," which will be sent to contemporary hit radio and rhythmic contemporary radio today, and officially due in stores July 3rd.
Musically, "Don't Wake Me Up" is a strobe light thumper song that features a heavy bassline and repetitive chorus, with Brown repeating the line "don't wake me up." The dance-pop song starts off slow before launching into an all-out dance party, and Brown's vocals in the song are auto-tuned. Brown continues to push towards the release of his new album "Fortune," and the accompanying music video is here and it sounds like Brown out to prove that autotune aint' dead, these uggins just scared.
The trippy video for "Don't Wake Me Up," was directed by Colin Tilley and filmed in a desert on May 14. It finds the R&B singer chasing his lady love in his dreams, and the visuals are centered on three different dream states Brown is in each one a trip into a world vastly different from the next. It boasts stunning visual effects and brings to mind some pretty fantastic dreamlike imagery that makes us think of 'The Matrix,' 'Alice in Wonderland,' and 'Neverending Story' in one clean sweep.
The 23-year-old entertainer hits the middle of the desert and follows super hot model Araya Nicks, who plays the girl of his dreams and appears in a white dress, on foot through a hedge maze and in the sky, amid fast-moving clouds and above skyscrapers. The two then engage in a deadly car chase in the dusty desert while the sun is either setting or rising. They are then shown to be plugged into what appears to be a dream machine. The visuals are stunning, and suit the aesthetic of the song perfectly!

Fiona Apple is making her triumphant return to the world of music videos after more than 6 years away with "Every Single Night," the lead single off her forthcoming album, "The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do," The brilliantly bizarre clip, seems to be obsessed with wildlife, especially creatures with no spines, makes its official debut on the Sundance Channel Sunday night, and the album hits stores on June 19th, the kickoff day for Apple's North American tour.
"Every Single Night," her first single in y years, is a tortured tale but the lyrics aren't the only aspect of the sparse song that feels bipolar: There's a prominent toy piano riff that makes Apple sound like a ballerina spinning out of control. Apple describes what she's trying to capture as "the flight of little-wings of white-flamed butterflies in my brain" - a striking image that turns disturbing when you think about what it's like to be enveloped by trapped, flapping tiny insects. Apple uses her piano as a percussive instrument that also makes melodies. She bangs at it, slapping out chords that sometimes feel like marching orders and sometimes act as interruptions, enhancing the stop-start nature of her internal monologues.
Emotions are so darn beautiful - that's the message of music, much of the time. Apple's music does something different. A classically lovely woman whose gorgeous, sultry alto once led her toward alt-divadom, she has always dared herself to be and do something else: to say no to simple beauty and instead express the urges and insecurities that more accommodating artists tend to avoid. Combined with some her unique vocals and some truly unique imagery, "Every Single Night" is a triumphant comeback by being exactly what Apple's cult of devotees has been yearning for.
The 34-year-old songstress and pianist gave director Joseph Cahill pretty simple instructions: "do things to me and put me in situations and surprise me." The end result certainly is surprising. The very strange, sci-fi-tinged clip features unsettling water imagery, an octopus worn as a hat, and a minotaur in Apple's bed and dances down the street while surrounded by people with lightbulb-sticks. As we see Apple lying in a field, while an electric-blue sky floats above her, upside-down swimming above water and walking through the streets of Paris while a giant squid attacks the Eiffel Tower. It's strange, it's oddly beautiful. And it's far more haunting and for more beautiful than what we could have ever anticipated!

As if you needed extra encouragement, Kenny Chesney also comes armed with a yacht, a piano, a really nice swimming pool and sweet, lusty sentiment in the brand-new video for his latest single "Come Over," the second single off the 44-year-old country-music heartthrob's upcoming 13th studio album, "Welcome to the Fishbowl," will be released June 19. The beautiful black & white clip and love lost ballad will rip your heart out.
"Come Over" shows off a completely different side for Chesney, and finds the singer returning to his old blue chair in an effort to pour his soul into a six-chord cask. It's not clear yet if Chesney wrote "Come Over," but like many of his best ballads, this cut feels very, very personal. Lyrically, the songwriters show power in efficiency, yet the singer never really conveys the physical need for this woman that the repetition begs for.
Chesney explained the song's meaning: "'Come Over'" is about two people who are as broken as their relationship is, when they realize deep down that their time together has probably ran its course, but they aren't really ready to emotionally or physically move on to something else," he said. "They keep going back to each other because it's familiar. It's about emotionally feeling wanted in a moment, but it feels impossible to let anybody else fill that void. It's a really sexy song with lyrics that are incredibly universal."
Shot in Miami, Chesney is more than willing to open up to the vulnerabilities associated with this tortured love story, and delivering a strikingly timeless and cinematic result in his longtime collaborator Shaun Silva-directed clip, which features the singer remembering the very good times with an ex whose memory he just can't shake, as Chesney slices through the water on a sleek yacht, his destination unknown, while his ex goes for a swim, remembering fond times of her own. By the end of the video, he is waiting at her dock.

Tom DeLonge is back with his side band Angels & Airwaves with their highly cinematic rebellious video for the latest song "Surrender," the lead single comes from San Diego Alternative rock group's fourth studio album, "Love: Part Two," which landed in last November. Considered a powerhouse alternative supergroup, Angels & Airwaves, is the artistic collaboration of four accomplished musicians from some of the biggest stadium-bands of the past 15 years.
"Surrender" has all of the same dynamics of the band's previous releases, with the basis of the song centered on a twee hook that's supported by a driven and chunky, four chord guitar progression. In addition, the typical Angels & Airwaves brand of relatively simple vocal orchestration, that sounds more preachy than it is expressive, is also present, along with a seemingly explosive load of drums that sound like they are just on the brink of detonation, before they are snuffed out by a dollop of compression.
Nonetheless, and regardless of any preconceptions that one may have about DeLonge and his sustained efforts to make his 'an art project that approaches larger human themes and tackles them in different mediums,' "Surrender" is intrusively catchy, working its way into the listener with an interplay of melody that breaks down any resistance they may initially have. Perhaps "Surrender" is a nod to Cheap Trick's 1978 pop rock song of the same name, but it's most unlikely, and besides, DeLonge's preachy lyrics seem to have missed the obvious point of a great pop song.
The protest themed clip, directed by William Eubank, and shot in Los Angeles, juxtaposes shots of young partiers with protesters facing off against riot police. It set amongst opposing scenes of passionate youth rioting and dancing in the streets, while the DeLonge-fronted band rock the anthem and incorporate the Occupy Wall Street movement into the clip, as lead singer explains it, "is based on young revolution. The idea that young people are speaking their minds... and that young people across the Globe will still find a way to celebrate even when they're living their worst day."

Hit big with her piano-driven "A Thousand Miles" back in 2002, and the last few years seem to have been transitional for her music and career, Vanessa Carlton is back and dropped a little indie-homemade video for her latest single "Hear The Bells," the second official single and third overall taken from her fourth studio album, "Rabbits on the Run," and it was also the title track for her 2011's four-track holiday EP, which isn't exactly the next episode in Carlton's tale of musical growth, but it still gives us something of significant substance to chew over.
"Hear the Bells" is the story of a person navigating their recovery, and making many stops along the way, angry winter walks through the city, meditating in a church cemetery, floating on the sea with lots of wine in you in Costa Rica, finding a Chinese witchdoctor, until you realize the remedy was pretty much there all along. Though I still float on seas and I boil my Chinese herbs every morning." The song is driven by a pulsating, almost temperamental piano riff, and Carlton herself sounds like she's in the middle of a séance as she insists in a sordidly deadpan tone. Her vague Victorian musings about death, witchdoctors, and stomachaches are pulled into their definitive form.
The 31-year-old songbird spoke about the track: "Hear the Bells" is about clarity, enlightenment. It is song map about the journey of someone who is seeking out a remedy. But remedies lie within us. That is powerful and true but not always obvious. I hope the song is a reminder. In society, the sound of bells marks an important moment in time, whether from a church tower or a wind chime in a garden, it is always a sort of mystical alarm." It does not sound anything like I've heard from her before. She has a total old school Kristen Hirsch vibe.
In the airy, blurry visuals, Carlton showcases a timeline of past rare never seen before footage of her ballet history as she reminisce on life. She explains: "This visual clip is my favorite video I've ever done thus far. Re-teaming with Jake Davis and his team was fluid and an inspired experience. It was filmed in my house in New York City, the place where I wrote the song. Doing a video for this song was Jake's idea and I'm really happy he pushed me to do it. It's a reveal of my history woven in with the story of a reclusive woman based on 'Little Edie of Grey Gardens,' an eccentric and wonderful lady who rarely left her house. I believe we are our own fortune tellers."

Cody Simpson recently premiered his latest offering "Got Me Good" over Memorial Day weekend with his sister Alli on Radio Disney, and now the Aussie teen has just released the official music video for his track, served as the second single slated to appear on his forthcoming new five-track EP, "Preview to Paradise," which will hit shelves on June 12, and teases the Gold Coast native's long awaited debut full-length album, "Paradise," is still on schedule to be released sometime this October.
Simpson has a lot to live up to after his last EP, "Coast to Coast," reached No.12 on the Billboard charts and helped him snag Favorite Aussie Superstar at this year's Kids' Choice Awards. Looks like he's on the right track with this song! The perfect summery single, "Got Me Good" which borrows a little swagger from Justin Bieber and a bit of lyrical manipulation from Jason Mraz, is definitely has a fun summer vibe to it.
In the same way my teenaged self is dying to be the girl that dips fondue with Bieber in his "Boyfriend" video, she's also dying to be the girl frolicking around with Simpson in his "Got Me Good" video. Not in a weird "He's 15 and I'm 26" way, just in a "This is the most adorable teen romance I've ever effing seen" way." The water-loving swimmer and surfer keeps things real in his latest clip, Simpson is quite literally the perfect boyfriend and showing his fans all the things he loves to do in his everyday life.
Life's a beach for the 15-year-old pop star, and it has clearly inspired his latest beach-filled video, directed by Cameron Duddy. The vintage-style footage takes in plenty of sun, surf, sand and features the Aussie heartthrob strums his guitar while enjoying a warm sunny day on the beach, surfing the ocean waves, jumping shirtless into a swimming pool and trying to win over his summertime crush who who sports a age inappropriate skimpy bikini and has "got him good."

Following the success of single "We Are Young," Fun. return and hit the battlefield in their new video for "Some Nights," the second single and the title track from their sophomore studio album, which has been released since February and made its debut on Billboard Hot 200 at the third place. The clip very artfully showcases a battle between Union and Confederate soldiers, and "Some Nights" is a sure-fire contender for the sound and anthem of this summer!
Fun. named their album after this track as they feel it best represents not only their entire record, but also where they're at as a band. "I think that the song 'Some Nights' just kind of sums up who we are as a band, and while it's über-personal, I think it gives people a lot of stuff to relate to. It's not a love song; it's a song about being an underdog and trying to figure out where you fall into that situation," lead vocals Nate Ruess told MTV News.
After all, "Some Nights" is very much about the inner battle he - and most of us, really - faces on a daily basis: the challenge of trying to find a balance between wildly different desires, of giving in to basic instincts one moment, then attempting to walk the moral tightrope the next. There is genuine guilt and frustration and even actual anger, he can't believe he acts the way he does, and yet, he cannot imagine acting any other way. And above all else, he truly can't comprehend how one person can be this complex, this hell-bent on destruction.
The Anthony Mandler-directed clip, takes place on a battlefield that evokes the Civil War, is more like a short film than actual music video, with 5:41 minutes needed to have this story truly come to life. With Ruess and his bandmates performing on a makeshift stage in the middle of the firefight, fans see a glimpse of a young man and older gentleman who both happen to be soldiers in their respective separate lives. It concludes in the aforementioned gun battle, where the two coincidentally face off. You never see your enemy as more than just that, and Fun. delve right into that notion with this one. But really, "Some Nights" is a video about war and its tragic outcomes.

British alternative rock band Coldplay has finally released the music video for their new single with Rihanna, "Princess of China," and it does not disappoint. The track is the fourth single off Coldplay's fifth studio album, "Mylo Xyloto," which debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200. We expect rock bands to work with rappers, but cross-pollination between rockers and R&B. Singers is a little less common. The song is a hard-to-categorize pop confection that has left listeners wondering what the video would look like. Wonder no longer.
"Princess Of China" features a moody and heavy synth throughout the duration of the song with a string loop and an epic, Asia-influenced. It exemplifies the adventurous vibe that comes from an alternative-hip-hop combination that making it one of the band's less Coldplayesque tunes. Lyrically this song finds frontman Chris Martin writing from a female point of view. He told NME: "I found that with 'Viva La Vida,' I enjoyed writing from someone else's perspective to actually get out what I was feeling. That song is from a girl's perspective. I wonder what that says about me?"
The song features Rihanna duetting with Martin. The Coldplay frontman admitted to The Sun that it took him a while to finally muster up the nerve to ask the Bajan superstar to contribute some vocals on "Mylo Xyloto," and Rihanna's vocals surprised Martin. "When the song came out, it sort of asked for her to be on it. And I think at this point, we have nothing to lose, and so we've been trying some new things and trying to break down the perceived boundaries between different types of music." Much like the characters in the song, the onscreen characters are torn up about their dying love.
Filmed at the Taiko Center in Los Angeles, the trippy clip was directed by Adria Petty & Alan Bibby, which is full of eye-burning surreal images that play on the song's references to Asia, with Martin and Rihanna donning all sorts of ninja and ninja-goddess couture. A desert, the sky and some ancient-looking Chinese palaces all serve as backgrounds. Martin dressed as a stealthy ninja, goes head to head against Rihanna's own "gangsta goth geisha." as she appears a fierce warrior princess. But then things get serious as the two star-crossed lovers kneel in the desert, forehead to forehead, and mourn the loss of their love.

The Band Perry have released the video for "Postcard from Paris," the fifth single from the band's self-titled debut album. Since their debut in late 2009, The Band Perry have made their mark on country music while keeping the instrumentation decidedly country, a foreign concept to many of their contemporaries. Their latest single, "Postcard from Paris," follows perfectly in that trend.
"Postcard From Paris" is a beautiful song that finds a fresh way to spell love: a simple story of newly found love until you realize she's with the wrong man. The chorus is a brilliant lyric performed with honesty and familiarity by Kimberly and the brothers Perry. The metaphor isn't right down country Main St., but neither is this band. Kimberly always has to be ruined when a better catch comes along or obsessed with the person who doesn't notice her. With her gorgeous and tantalizing twang; she pulls off each character with the ease of a singer with twice as much life experience.
Like any great song, the emotions of being with the wrong person are fully flushed out - every decision she's made is now coming into question, as though the universe got it backwards and her diamond ring was actually a fake. Now that she feels she's supposed to be with someone else, the protagonist can't help but let out her primal scream. And it's that twisty angst element that's helped to form the trio's sound and thusly helped them emerge as one of the most exciting acts having hits right now.
Although the video shoot in New Orleans seems to be a fairly laid-back affair for the trio siblings, the decision to release this latest tune wasn't as easy due to their label had planned to not release another song until the first single from their sophomore album was ready. The release is a smart move, though, as "Postcard From Paris" is the perfect song to help bring them to the next level of superstardom and like others have stated, is one of the strongest lyrics on their record that deserves further cultivation in the years to come.

Florence + The Machine have released an ultra-theatrical video for "Spectrum," the fifth and final single off of the English indie rock band's most recent sophomore studio album, "Ceremonials." The frontwoman Florence Welch said despite her own natural conflicted and irreverent mindset, she attempted to put some positive messages on album: "Like putting something in there that wasn't just for me, like 'Spectrum,' they're really earnest, saying don't be afraid of who you are and follow your heart."
Musically, "Spectrum" is a downtempo baroque pop and indie pop and drums while backing vocals repeatedly sing "Say my name" throughout the song. The song is a huge, churchy tune, even in the context of the band's typically bombastic blend of arena rock and gospel. Music video legend David LaChappelle rose to the challenge of making a clip for the song, matching its drama and energy with a vivid color palette and incredibly theatrical staging.
LaChapelle explained: "It's a beautiful song that really touched me and inspired me to create imagery that matches its power. 'Spectrum' is free of scepticism, irony, and the coldness one finds in a lot of contemporary popular music. It's the opposite – full of light, positivity and authentic joy. I hope that I can do justice to this moving modern classic." The clip depicts ballet dancers pirouetting, jumping, and dancing around the singing songstress. Upon the release of the video, critics praised Welch's look and the video's dark atmosphere.
The new colorful clip looks like every fashion blogger's "Favesies" board on Pinterest, and the often imitated, never duplicated Welch brought out the big guns for this new video which is as bombastic and over the top as the song itself, and a what a ballerina-mermaid dance party looks like inside Balmain's house and/or a Baz Luhrmann film. It's a sparkly musical venture featuring Welch as a futuristic Venus emerging from a spiky, metallic shell among other things! By the end, you won't just be "saying her name," you'll be screaming it.

Gym Class Heroes, a rap rock band from Geneva, New York, have premiered the music video for the uplifting cut "The Fighter," the third single from group's latest album "The Papercut Chronicles II," that hits stores on last November 15. Gym Class Heroes deliver an ode to perseverance. It sounds like they have a third big hit from the album. OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder provides signature martial percussion and a winning pop hook to the empowering anthem. His sweet featured vocals are icing on the cake.
The uplifting Tedder collaboration, "The Fighter," is a song about never giving up in life. Frontman Travie McCoy raps about staying positive, no matter what your situation in life. Musically, the mid-tempo guitar-based groove has sweet Tedder's fingerprints all over it, making it feel more like a OneRepublic song featuring McCoy than a Gym Class Heroes song featuring Tedder. However regardless of the actual credits, this is a catchy song with a light touch appropriate for summer pop radio airplay. The 'Firework'-lite lyrics will have everyone singing along.
Directed by Marc Klasfeld, Gym Class Heroes get emotional in their newly-unveiled mix of docu-style clip, which documents the journey 19-year-old gymnast John Orozco takes as he 'fighting' for his dream to represent his country at the upcoming Olympic Games. His 'story' footage is intercut with images of McCoy and Tedder performing "The Fighter" in different sports facilities. In between shots of the band tearing it up, we see incredible footage of young athlete working out hard - running, sweating and doing all kinds of sick flips and twirls on the parallel bars.
Gym Class Heroes are banging the drum for sportsmanship, athletic prowess and relentless determination. It seems that experience has turned Gym Class Heroes into consistent hitmakers. The formula is clear. Take a lightly uplifting rap, weld on a strong hook from top level pop songwriters and producers, and then punctuate it with a strong featured vocal. From the home-movie-style shots of Orozco competing as a child, to him meeting with youngsters who want to be just like him when they grow up, "The Fighter" is feel-good all over. Does he end up making it? Guess we'll have to wait till the 2012 Olympics to find out!