New Music Mix: Top 5 Albums to Look Out For in 2011, New Britney Spears Single, Guess Who’s Getting Married, and More!

Happy New Year, Afterelton Music Mix Readers!

I hope everyone had a kick ass New Year's and a great time with family and friends during the holiday season.

To start the year off right, we’re going to take a look at five of the most anticipated albums of 2011 and then get into our usual round-up of the highlights in music news, artist interviews, single releases and videos.

EXCITING 2011 RELEASES

Some of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2011 are as follows:

Hercules & Love Affair – Blue Songs

Release Date: January 31

Blue Songs is the sophomore release from American house music group Hercules & Love Affair. The group consisting of DJ Andy Butler and out lesbian Kim Ann Foxman, have teamed up with Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke on the song “Step UP.” Wonder if another hit like “Blind” will come from this one? No word yet on whether Antony Hegarty will appear on this album.

R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now

Release Date: March 7

R.E.M.’s fifteenth studio album was recorded in Berlin, Germany; Nashville, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana and features guest appearances by Patti Smith, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, The Hidden Cameras’s Joel Gibb, and Peaches. R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills states “there are some really slow, beautiful songs; there are some nice, mid-tempo ones; and then there are three or four rockers.”

Lady Gaga – Born This Way

Release Date: May 23

According to Gaga, Born This Way, the follow up to her record-breaking debut The Fame, will sound like “bad kids going to church.” She’s also called the album her “most innovative” work so far and “the greatest album of this decade.” While clad in her meat dress at the MTV Video Awards last year, Gaga sang a bit of lead single “Born This Way,” that’s already got Elton John singing its praises: “This is the new ‘I Will Surivive’… This is the new gay anthem!”

Britney Spears – Untitled

Release Date: March

Britney’s upcoming seventh studio album will be “a departure from what you’ve heard,” states her manager Adam Leber to MTV News. DJ Pauly D, star of MTV’s Jersey Shore, shares the same manager as Spears, and was able to hear the music before it’s official release. His opinion: “I think this is gonna be one of her greatest albums.”

Beyonce – Untitled

Release Date: TBA

While the titled is yet to be determined, but whatever it's called, this album is almost sure to be amazing. The diva known for countless number one singles, turns 30 this year and has remained mum about the details on her hotly anticipated follow up to I Am… Sasha Fierce. Word on the street is her new single, co-penned with The-Dream, is “INSANE,” says producer Los Da Mystro. Meanwhile, producer Jim Jonsin hints that Beyonce’s fourth solo album could have an ‘80s feel.

INTERVIEWS

Canadian John O’Regan is the man behind synth-pop solo effort Diamond Rings. Known for sporting lipstick and a rainbow flag on his face, O’Regan draws heavily from his androgynous predecessors: David Bowie, Boy George and Grace Jones. But when it comes to sexuality, O’Regan often skirts the questions.

Despite this, O’Regan heavily focuses on confusion with sexuality in his music, and at a time when a heightened awareness for teen bullying exists, this subject is drawing major interest to Diamond Rings’ debut full-length album, Special Affections. Produced entirely on his MacBook pro, the album has garnered positive reviews from Pitchfork and AllMusic, claiming it to be one of the year’s finest debuts. Check out why O’Regan dodges questions about his sexuality in this interview at Spinner.com and listen to Diamond Rings music here.