The last thing I want to do is stir the melodious pot, but if you’ve heard the leak of Maroon 5’s new single “Payphone” (featuring a drop-in by noted botanist Wiz Khalifa), do you agree that the sprightly song could very easily be sung by One Direction?

With a synthy hook and Adam Levine sweetly crooning, “If happy ever after did exist, I would still be holding you like this,” it’s pretty easy to replace the band’s signature electronic meta-funk with any of the boy band’s impish members.

But if you disagree, then ignore my diagnostic digression. “Payphone” is catchy, infectious, and overwhelmingly mellow, which is why it’s a welcome addition to a playlist I like to call Really Chill Morning Songs. Maroon 5’s fourth album, Overexposed, is due out June 26, but the single is fresh on the YouTube and radio circuits before it becomes officially available on iTunes after Levine and co. perform it on tonight’s episode of The Voice (8/7c on NBC). Take a listen below.

What do you think of “Payphone,” MusicMixers? Is it a natural extension of “Moves Like Jagger” or does it deviate too far from the Maroon 5 mold?

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The most recent effort from Florida challenging rockers Shinedown debuted in the top rated five on the charts yesterday, landing at Quantity 4 on Billboard and Amount Two on iTunes alongside Madonna, Lionel Richie and Adele. The good results of Amaryllis is nothing new for the Florida hard rockers, who have sold over ten million albums to a devoted fan base over the final decade. But with this album, the band is also aligning itself with a lead to that is just lately gotten interest from everyone from Lady Gaga and Oprah to documentary filmmakers: bullying.  

The band’s most up-to-date single, aptly titled “Bully,” is “about not feeling like you cannot stand up for your self and take back your self respect if you really feel as if someone is belittling you or trying to push you close to,” frontman Brent Smith tells Rolling Stone. “The song is not condoning violence. What it is condoning is survival. I never think that any individual must ever have their self-respect or their dignity taken from them.”

That determination to battle back is one thing that comes from Smith’s childhood. “When I was ten years old, my dad took me to the garage and place a pair of boxing gloves on me and stated, ‘I don’t ever want it to come to this, but you require to discover how to fight,’” Smith recalls. “And I got my butt kicked often, but I often stood up for myself. By nature I’ve just in no way backed down from what I believed in, and I’ll be damned if I am going to let someone push me all around. It’s the very same thing with my household, as well. I would not let an individual come into my home and mess with my girlfriend or my son.”

Smith and his bandmates deliver the very same take-no-prisoners mentality to their music. “We’re 4 guys that are never ever satisfied, and we’re constantly attempting to outdo what we’ve currently done,” Smith says. “We actually are the band that seems for the most significant mountain and would like to climb it. And then once we’ve gotten to the leading, we just want to uncover a greater mountain.”

For Amaryllis, the band sought to attain new heights by reteaming with producer Rob Cavallo. “On the song ‘I’m Not Alright,’ we had the orchestration, but at the final minute Rob said, ‘Let’s put a ten-piece horn section on it,’” Smith says. “We’re quite fearless on this record. There wasn’t anything at all we strayed away from or mentioned that we could not do. We just went for it. And ultimately I think that is what enhanced the album.”

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Fresh off its March 23rd worldwide release, ‘The Hunger Games’ is not only rising on the “tomatometer,” but also growing on the Billboards.

The soundtrack to the science fiction and fantasy film has made its debut at #one on the Billboard 200, promoting over 170,000 copies in its first week, per Nielson SoundScan, and is the 16th soundtrack to come in at #1 since the Billboard 200 commenced retaining track.

Just as the film [and book] is filled with unique and vivid characters, the soundtrack includes a selection of solo artists and bands Maroon five, The Decemberists, The Secret Sisters, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, and the country duo, The Civil Wars.

Taylor Swift’s and The Civil Wars’ collaboration for the soundtrack, ‘Safe &amp Sound,’ was released back in December and achieved #one on the iTunes overall charts in a record breaking 12 hours upon its release.

‘The Hunger Video games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond’ has 16 tracks and is accessible in its entirety on iTunes. On acquire, the digital version of the soundtrack also contains artwork from the film.

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