Monday Music News

• The end of the year is the slowest time for most bands to release any music, Radiohead has never been "most bands". On Christmas day, the group, who'd been quiet for a while (hopefully hunkering down on a new album), surprised fans by releasing a song they wrote this year, intended it as the theme to the James Bond movie, Spectre. Though the band says "It didn't work out", they were glad it "became something of our own, which we love very much." You'll love it too, and you can even download it for free!

• Radiohead weren't the only ones to spring surprise gifts on their fans. LCD Soundsystem, Will Butler, Speedy Ortiz, Green Day, Future Islands and Miley Cyrus with The Flaming Lips all offered last-minute holiday tunes, but the killer jam comes from The Weeknd, who announced on Xmas Eve that "something is coming" before sending up his collaboration with fellow hip-hop star Future on "Low Life".

• Chaz Bundick also has a surprise for his fans. Yesterday, he released four Toro y Moi songs, all labeled "rare" and drawn from previous singles and featuring the signature synth-pastiche of his earlier music. You can listen to all four tracks on his Soundcloud. [Noisey]

• The end of the year is the time to look forward to new releases in 2016. Over the weekend, Run the Jewels tipped that "RTJ3 is just getting started" with a short audio clip on Instagram. The duo claimed last may that the new LP would not be out in 2015, but now that they're finally on a break touring, it seems they got the party started. No news yet on a release date. [Pitchfork]

RTJ3 is just getting started.

A video posted by thereallyrealelp (@thereallyrealelp) on Dec 27, 2015 at 11:47am PST

• Also due in 2016 is the long-awaited sophomore release from The Last Shadow Puppets, the collaboration between Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner and Miles Kane, formerly of The Rascals. The duo released a new teaser today. According to the video clip, the LP is due "Spring 2016". [Pitchfork]

• Will Guns N’ Roses reunite in 2016? Rumors this year seemed to point to it, and now fans are a-tizzy that the official GnR website is now depicting their old-school logo. What it means yet is anyone's guess but here's hoping they have a gift to give us too. [Consequence of Sound]