Having said that, please please please listen to the song without the video – it’s a different experience especially if you are finding the visuals polarising. Here for pop Grimes either way.

On a slightly moodier note, meet TĀLĀ who has just released her track Wolfpack with Banks. It’s experimental electro r&b but both of their vocals are dreamy as fuck and the lyrical content holds this awesome sense of female empowerment. 2015 is clearly the year of The Wolf in music – Angel Haze, Kanye and Sia and now this…

Finally, onto Gwen – who did a random one off gig in NYC this week and performed her new track Used To Live with the minimalist and beautifully hypnotising (because, Gwen) video for the backdrop. She also just performed it on Ellen. Used To Love you has definitely had the strongest and most positive reaction to date with speculation in showbiz press about who it could be about and the fact that it feels, I guess, more appropriate.

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Here’s the video for Spark The Fire, directed by Sophie Muller and produced by Grant Jue and Joseph Uliano. It’s the emoji party you always wanted to go to. The video premiered the same night as Gqwen performed with Pharrell on The Voice (under the cut). Spark The Fire is also featured on the new FIAT Italy advert – note the product placement.

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When an iconic artist returns after almost a decade (eight years to be precise), it is risky, always potentially polarising and involves an entire education and re-education process. Gwen is an icon, a pioneer and a genius – her solo career has always been tastemaking and risk-driven which is why playing it beyond safe for her comeback has not only polarised opinions but generated legitimate debate (although maybe not enough).

So let’s go back to the strategy. Age is obviously a key factor in this on an emotional level, rather than a physical level – as Gwen herself hasn’t aged in 20 years. Baby Don’t Lie is co-written by Benny Blanco and Ryan Tedder, which truly does justice to its mainstream potential. This clear strategy for mainstream chart success from a song that isn’t traditionally boundary breaking is coupled by two guest appearances on the Maroon 5 album and the new Calvin Harris record (plus judging The Voice) – there is clearly no doubt that Gwen is seeking guaranteed chart domination with this record. Let’s hope it happens. This now only begs the question of what the rest of the album will offer – here’s hoping for a fine balance between beautifully produced commercial pop and the daring and pioneering pop and cohesively artist vision that LAMB and Sweet Escape offered.

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