The Rolling Stones aren’t wasting time anymore. A fortnight after releasing “Angry” as their first original single after a long while, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ron Wood immediately followed it with a soulful new single in “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven.”

And it’s a beast of a song with heavyweights Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder in tow. From the get-go, this gospel-tinged power ballad would immediately appeal to the core Rolling Stone fans who have missed the bluesy side of the band.

Mick Jagger’s vocal performance on “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” can still put any young rock vocalist out there today to school and shame. It’s a masterclass performance from an 80-year-old rock and roller who’s managed to learn how to bottle lightning, so to speak, miraculously sounding brilliant still.

Lady Gaga initially sounds unrecognizable, singing in a higher pitch than usual. But when she sings counter to Jagger, she does so like the great backup vocalists of old. Lady Gaga’s vocals enter at the 1’41” point but immediately make her mark. She’s Merry Clayton on “Gimme Shelter” from the 1969 Stones album “Let It Bleed.” Gaga rocks even if she’s singing the ‘oohs’ against Jagger’s bridge lyrics: ' You can’t have a light without a little shadow / always need a target for your bow and arrow / I want to be drenched in the rain or your heavenly love.’

Jagger revealed that “Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” was played live in the studio. And it sounds like it, too, adding that though there are overdubs, playing together in a room was necessary to get the feel right for a soulfully sung and played song such as this. So when Jagger is saying, “play me something Stevie..,” on the long 7-minute, 22-second version, the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Wonder are playing like a band in a room. Oh, and when Stevie Wonder does play, seated in front of his electric piano, rocking back and forth in time, you can imagine how good it sounds even without hearing it.   

“Sweet Sounds Of Heaven” is just a soulful stop on the way to the Rolling Stones’ new album that will come around the middle of October. Already sounding this good; we can’t wait for the rest of it.

R&B singer-songwriter DENY (Denise Pimping) drops her seven-song EP titled “LOVES7AGE.” Short 1 song of full album, this album collects previously released singles “Mahiyain” and the fan-fave collab song “Alam Ko Na” (feat. Just Hush and Thirdflo).

But there are a lot of new songs to biting into as well, namely five new songs that include album carrier “Sabik” that features Pinoy pop singing sensation Arthur Nery. On this slow-burn R&B ballad, DENY proves that she’s also ready for the big time, with her vocals fitting like a snug glove against Arthur Nery’s star-level vocals. Fawning over the vocals of these two aside, “Sabik” is a fine example of how Pinoy singers like DENY and Nery have a firm handle on lo-fi-styled R&B. The song also proves that DENY and Arthur Nery’s natural collaboration has finally happened.

On her own, DENY’s chill, R&B-styled dulcet croon also flies on songs like “FG2GF” and “Say My Name.” The mid-tempo pop R&B bounce of “Kudos (Awit Sa Yo)” is a fast-favorite with bopping trap beats and heartbreak-inspired Tagalog lyrics.  There’s also the co-writing collab with BECAUSE in “Don’t Love The Same.” While we keep saying she’s R&B, DENY isn’t your dad’s music.

Young and of the time, “LOVES7AGE” is a bold-letter announcement that DENY is here.